Five men who were allegedly involved in high seas piracy were yesterday remanded to prison when they appeared before Magistrate Krishndat Persaud at the Springlands Court.
The court heard that on December 17, Veerasammy Rawana, 46; Levan Chandrapaul, 23; Vishaul Gowkarran, 31; all of No 68 Village, Corentyne, Mohan David, 48 of No 79 Village and Avenderdat Deodat, 49, of Church St., Corriverton committed three counts of robbery under arms.
The robberies took place just off the shore at No. 43 Village, Corentyne and the men were captured at No. 66 Village.
Police Prosecutor, Sergeant Michael Grant objected to bail on the grounds of the nature and gravity of the charge. He submitted too that guns were allegedly used and that the guns were recovered. Grant also argued that the accused have other matters of a similar nature pending against them in both Guyana and Suriname. He said too that “because of the seriousness of the offence they may not return for trial.” They are also being investigated in other cases of piracy.
According to the particulars of the case the men left to go out to sea to fish but instead they allegedly hijacked fishing boats and beat and robbed the captains and crew members of their catch and destroyed their engines.
The magistrate turned down an application for bail made by attorney-at-law, Charrandass Persaud and remanded the defendants to prison. They were not required to plead to the offence and were ordered to return to the No 51 court on January 11.
Reports are that two unlicensed shotguns with eight cartridges as well as a stolen engine were recovered close to the No 66 Fisheries.
Police also held the boat which belongs to the chairman of the fisheries, Indarpersaud Rampersaud and which was used to carry out the attack.
Rampersaud had told this newspaper that he sent his captain and three crew members out to fish in the Atlantic and was shocked to learn that they were allegedly involved in piracy. He was also taken into custody.
Owner of one of the hijacked boats, Nakool Manohar, 32, of No. 43 Village had told Stabroek News that the pirates attacked his workers around 3 pm and warned them not to say anything to their “boss man.”
According to him the pirates are also from No. 43 Village but were apparently not familiar with the boat – or the workers – because the vessel was new and had only gone out to sea for the second time. He said most of his workers were from the East Coast of Demerara and one of the pirates felt confident enough to remove his mask during the attack.
They stole a quantity of fish and other items and ordered the men into the fish pen. It was only after they went into the cabin that they saw a worker from the village and learnt that the boat belonged to Manohar.
They proceeded to beat the worker and also warned him not to tell the owner. Nakool who was also fishing at another location during the piracy recalled when he and the pirates anchored at the koker at No. 43 Village at the same time on Sunday at around 10 am.
He chatted with them not knowing that they had just robbed his other boat. Around 3 a.m. on Monday when his workers arrived at the koker and saw the vessel with the pirates they called and informed him.
He told this newspaper that he left around 9:30 “when the water came up” to confront the men but when they saw his boat they fled. He followed them until they docked at the No. 66 Village wharf and informed the police.
The next morning Manohar was at the No. 66 wharf when one of the pirates he had chatted with at the koker walked in. He said he grabbed the man and turned him over to the police. Some of the fishermen recognized one of the pirates by a tattoo on his hand.
Meanwhile, Manohar said that only last week pirates also hijacked his boat and stole a quantity of fish and gasoline. They also broke his engine before escaping.
Commander of ‘B’ Division, Stephen Merai told the Berbice media that searches were conducted on the homes of the defendants and articles including cell phones and stripped engines were recovered.
Persons who were robbed before would be asked to identify the articles so that the police could press further charges, he said.
He said the 50-ft vessel that was reportedly used in the attack was found at the wharf at the No 66 Fisheries and although police have seized it, it is still moored there because of the size. According to Merai, the suspected pirates are “seasoned,” having been involved in fishing for a long time. He pointed out too that in most cases, the owner of the boats may not know the crew members who the captains would normally pick or just know them by their “call names.”
The commander told the media that the owners should have a “manifest” of the workers and that it would now be mandatory in Suriname for the fishing crew to have photo identification.
