The trial of six men and one woman accused of murdering Meten-Meer-Zorg businessman Zulfikar Namdar, continued yesterday with the testimony of three police witnesses.
Allan Dorsett called “Baird”, “Fatman”, “Allen” or “Dada”; Delwayne Croft; Esan Lawrence called “Muscle”; Jermaine Williams called “Yankee”; Andrew Chandler called “Sonic” or “Sowie”; Samuel Bacchus called “Kirk” and Cassandra Dorsett called “Cassandra Singh-Dorsett”; are all accused of murdering Namdar, called “Vicky”, during the furtherance of a robbery committed on September 10, 2013, at Meten-Meer-Zorg (MMZ), West Coast Demerara.
The trial began on Tuesday at the High Court, with testimony from Namdar’s parents, Gulzar Namdar and Fazila Namdar, who were said to be in the house during the execution of the robbery.
Day two of the trial continued yesterday with evidence being given by three police officers regarding the arrest of those on trial, as well as the alleged collection of a caution statement from one of the accused.
However, the day ended with a voir dire to determine the admissibility of the caution statement; this is expected to continue when the case is called again on Friday.
The trial is being presided over by Justice Navindra Singh, while the state is represented by Tuanna Hardy in association with Teriq Mohammed and Abigail Gibbs.
Stabroek News had reported that 27-year-old Zulfikar Namdar was shot dead when gunmen invaded his grocery store and home around 7:15pm on the evening of September 10, 2013, after which they carted off at least $1 million in cash.
Witnesses had recounted that about five gunmen invaded the shop and as Namdar stood at the counter, they shot him in his neck through the grillwork. His friend and shop help, 17-year-old Stephen Mohammed, was shot in his left thigh and was treated at the Leonora Cottage Hospital and discharged.
It was explained to the family that Namdar had taken one bullet to the throat, which travelled downwards, damaging his internal organs and causing him to die instantly.
His mother, as she held her three-year old granddaughter, was also assaulted by the men, who demanded cash and jewellery.
