The men appeared before Magistrate Peter Hugh in the Vigilance Magistrates’ Court this morning. Two of the men were charged with aiding and abetting persons who shot at Guyana Revenue Authority Enforcement Officers and with obstructing the officers from performing their duties, while the third suspect was charged with knowingly dealing with smuggled goods, with the intention to defraud the GRA. The fourth accused was a no-show in court this morning.
Standing before the Magistrate to answer the charges were 25-year-old Stephen Motielal and 19-year-old Trevor Motielal, both men are said to be fishermen, while the third suspect, 35-year-old Ravindra Ramdeo is said to be a driver.
The men were hauled before the court days after GRA officers were shot at while they were executing their duties at Bee Hive, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara on June 7th. Two of the GRA officers were injured during the incident.
Attorney at law Stanley Moore made a bail application for the men and he told the court that the men had no previous convictions.
However, bail was objected to by GRA’s attorney, Jason Moore, on the grounds of the seriousness of the offence, however, he did not object to Ramdeo being released on bail.
All the men were granted bail with Stephen and Trevor Motielal being placed on $400,000 dollars each, while Ramdeo was placed on $200,000 dollars bail.
The matter was transferred to the Cove and John Magistrates’ Court for June 26th.