By Clifford Stanley
Five men from Bath Settlement West Coast Berbice including a 60 year old man and a juvenile were placed before the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court Wednesday morning charged with the murder of a fellow resident during political protests in the village.
Three of the men described themselves as cash crop farmers and a fourth as a handyman.
They are Khaloo aged 60 , Devon Karran 22, Shivchand 40 and Ricardo Shivlall 26.
The men are accused of killing Prettipaul Hargobin a rice farmer called Roy on September 9th last.
A juvenile of Bath Settlement was charged with the same killing on September 9th but the charge against him was read separately.
Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh remanded the four adults to custody until September 23rd for disclosure of statements to the lawyers for the defense.
The juvenile was remanded to custody at the Juvenile detention center in Sophia Georgetown until that date for re-appearance in court as well.
Hargobin died after being beaten by a mob during protests by supporters of the People’s Progressive Party Civic as a counter to APNU/AFC supporters protesting the gruesome murder of two teenaged afro Guyanese youths in the backlands at Cotton Tree Village West Coast Berbice on September 6th last.
Meanwhile in a related incident Beharilall Motielall a 45 year old cash farmer who claimed he is a disabled person, was charged with malicious damage to property.
The charge read that he maliciously destroyed a Tundra vehicle belonging to the deceased Hargobin by setting it ablaze.
Motiellall who was limping and walking with the aid of a stick told Magistrate R Singh that he had been disabled after an accident while working with GUYSUCO twenty years ago.
His obvious disability prompted the Magistrate to look at Prosecutor Inspector Philip Sheriff who interpreted the querying look and then explained that the disabled man had been implicated as the person who allegedly set the dead man’s vehicle on fire. The malicious damage to property charge was laid indictably and Motielall was not required to plea.
Motielall was allowed bail in the sum of three hundred thousand dollars and ordered to return to Court on October 7th next for report.
