Two persons appeared at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s court yesterday, charged with last Wednesday’s multi-million dollar robbery of a Bartica businessman and were remanded to prison.

Fidel Collins, 27, of 627 East Ruimveldt and Avinash Rampratap, 26, a taxi-driver of 27 Delph Street, Campbellville  were not required to plead to the indictable charge of robbery under arms and were remanded to prison by Magistrate Fazil Azeez.

It is alleged that on October 14 at Good Hope, East Bank Essequibo, the accused along with others, and armed with guns, robbed Mohamed Nasim Kassim of $11.5 million and a water pump valued $96,000.

According to reports, Kassim had stopped at the Good Hope home of the taxi driver transporting him when a white car pulled up and four men exited. One went to the driver’s side door and pulled up the latch for the trunk while the others who had already positioned themselves at the back opened it and removed a bag and several boxes containing the money.

The taxi driver who was standing at his door raised an alarm and as the men drove off they discharged several rounds. Seconds before, one of the bandits had ripped off his vehicle’s number plate before jumping in. The driver gave chase and when the bandits realized that they were being followed, they discharged a volley of rounds.

The bandits’ getaway car was subsequently found locked and abandoned at Stewartville Squatting area.

The taxi driver was arrested along with a man who turned up at the station claiming ownership of the car the bandits used in the robbery. He had reportedly told the police that he was relieved of it at gun point earlier in the day. Police later held the two suspects and they were charged.