Barama payroll robbery - Boat captain, wife, other relatives refused bail over unlicensed guns, ammo

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56524736

Barama payroll robbery
Boat captain, wife, other relatives refused bail over unlicensed guns,
ammo
Stabroek News,
Tuesday, July 17th 2007

Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton yesterday refused bail for the boat
captain of a Barama Company Limited vessel that was robbed of a payroll
last week along with his wife, brother and other relatives who
allegedly had a number of unlicensed guns and ammunition at their
various homes.

Ramkumar Rajkumar, a boat captain and his wife Janet Rajkumar pleaded
not guilty to two joint unlawful possession of firearm and ammunition
charges, while Ramkumar Rajkumar pleaded not guilty to a single charge
of unlawful possession. His brother Tameshwar Nauth Rajkumar called
'Mice' and his wife Chandrowtie Rajkumar and their cousin Siyad Khalil
Ahamad pleaded not guilty to two separate charges each of unlawful
possession of firearms and ammunition when they appeared at the
Georgetown Magistrate's Court.

They were all brought to the court separately yesterday to answer to
the charges.

It is alleged that on June 12 at Buckhall, Essequibo, Ramkumar Rajkumar
and his wife had one 12-gauge single barrel shotgun and eighty-nine
12-gauge cartridges without having a firearm licence in force. Ramkumar
Rajkumar was also accused of having oxygen gear, two grinding machines,
one pair of binoculars and one acetylene pressure gauge without lawful
authority.

Tameshwar Nauth Rajkumar and his wife allegedly on July 13 at Greenwich
Park, East Bank Essequibo had 30 12-gauge cartridges, 9 mm ammunition,
eight .23, three .22 and two .38 special ammunition and one 9 mm
Browning semi-automatic pistol and one 12-gauge single barrel shotgun
without being the holder of a firearm licence. Their cousin Ahamad is
accused of having one shotgun, two rifles and two pistols along with a
quantity of ammunition without being the holder of a firearm licence at
Sans Souci, Wakenaam Island, Essequibo on July 13.


Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos represented boat captain Ramkumar
Rajkumar and his wife. He told the court that his client has a firearm
licence and his brother also has a licence. The attorney said Janet
Rajkumar had never fired a gun in her life and this was not the
ordinary case and therefore bail should be granted.

Police Prosecutor Denise Griffith responding stated that indeed
Ramkumar Rajkumar was a licensed firearm holder for a shotgun but the
weapon found was not the one he was licensed to carry. She said he was
also in custody pending investigation into a robbery. His wife, she
said, was at home at the time the police conducted the search and the
weapon was found in the ceiling and the two told the police how the
weapon got to be there. She added that Ramkumar Rajkumar said the
weapon was given to him by another man but he refused to give the name
of the man to the police. She stated that they are investigating what
took place on the high seas.

Tameshwar Nauth Rajkumar and his wife were unrepresented and Griffith
told the court that he was the brother of the boat captain.

Ahamad was represented by Attorney-at-law Hilary Lashley-Bobb, who told
the court that only one of the weapons belonged to him; the others
belonged to his brother who is a saw-miller. The attorney said his
client had custody of the weapons but they were in a safe locked up and
it was a case where all the firearms were licensed.

Griffith responded that Ahamad was related to the Rajkumars and he was
a licensed firearm holder. She said he told the police that the five
firearms belonged to a brother who migrated two months ago to Canada
and left the weapons in his custody. She said the police were in the
process of testing the firearms to see whether they had been used in
any crime. She added that the police have three other matters to be
brought concerning the same family.

Lashley-Bobb added that his client's brother was now in the country and
would appear in court if it would help his client's situation.

The Rajkumar brothers and their wives were all remanded to prison and
will return to court on July 31 while their cousin will return on July
24 for report.

Police in a statement had said that a house at Greenwich Park, Railway
Line, East Bank Essequibo was searched as investigations continued into
the daring $11.5M Barama payroll robbery at Buck Hall; weapons were
recovered and a woman held. The release added that a 9 mm pistol and
two 12-gauge shotguns along with 52 rounds of ammunition of various
calibre and six spent shells of various calibre were found. Among the
firearms found only one was licensed, police said. Ranks in Essequibo
were said to be still investigating the robbery under arms committed on
Yhip Foo, Project Manager of the Barama Dock Yard, Dwayne Roberts,
Forestry Ranger at Buck Hall, Essequibo and boat captain Ramkumar
Rajkumar also of Buck Hall.