Five persons accused of stealing a quantity of seafood appeared on Wednesday before Acting Chief Magis-trate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court to answer charges of simple larceny and knowingly receiving stolen articles.
It is alleged that between July 6 and 27 at Georgetown, Roshan Thakur, 22, a labourer of Hope Fisheries and resident of South Section, Canal Number Two; Habeeb Kadir, 50, of G Herstelling, East Bank Demerara (EBD); Gomati Bin, 56, a domestic labourer of 405 Caneville Second Field, EBD, and 37-year-old Tazim Gafoor, a licensed seafood importer and exporter and owner of T and R Sea Foods of 1 Windsor Forest, West Coast Demerara (WCD) stole $1,103,250 worth of seafood, property of Morris Persaud Guptie.
It is also alleged that on July 23 at WCD, Azimul Mohamed, 47, of 36 Second Street, Windsor Forest, WCD received from Tazim Gafoor $90,000 worth of stolen seafood, knowing same to be stolen.
The defendants all pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them by the acting chief magistrate.
The defence attorneys made applications for reasonable bail to be granted on the grounds that their clients have no previous convictions, have fixed places of abode, posed no risk of flight and have been in full cooperation with police investigations. The prosecution had no objection to the bail applications made by the attorneys, stating that some of the items had been recovered.
Thakur, Kadir, Bin and Gafoor were all subsequently placed on bail in the sum of $150,000 each and they have to return to Court Three on September 11; while Mohamed was admitted to $90,000 bail. Her matter was transferred to the Leonora Magistrate’s Court for September 14.
