A police sergeant who was slapped with two charges of armed robbery was placed on a total of $600,000 bail while his alleged accomplices were each placed on a total of $400,000 bail when they made an appearance in the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Rajendra Major, the sergeant along with his brother Jumo Major, 20, and Maurice Jarvis, 17, were not required to plead to two counts of robbery under arms. Magistrate Nayasha Williams-Hatmin read the charges to the men which stated that on June 11 at Unity, East Bank Essequibo being armed with a dangerous weapon to wit a knife they robbed Ryan Kailass of a gold chain valued at $80,000, one cell phone valued at $15,000 and $12,000 in cash, a total value of $107,000.
The second charge read that on the same day and at the same place, armed with a knife the three men robbed Vijai Sirpaul of one cell phone valued $70,000 and $10,000 in cash, a total value of $80,000.
Representing Rajendra Major, attorney-at-law Mortimer Codette in his bail application told the court this his client was 30 years old and resided with his wife and two children at their 1359 Cummings Park, Sophia home.
According to Codette, his client has been a serving officer for 13 years with an unblemished record and while the charge was serious it was unfortunate that his client was caught up in this affair.
Codette says that on the day in question his client was attending a function at Eve Leary when his brother, Jumo Major, called him and said he was stranded in Parika without money. His client then drove to Parika to pick up his brother.
When he got to Parika, Codette said, his brother was with the other accused. Codette added that one of the boys stated he had to urine before they left and took off and the other left too. Shortly after, both men returned to the car where his client was waiting at which time the police apprehended them.
Codette said he was instructed that his client was asked to drive to the police station while the other two accused was placed in the back of the police vehicle and taken away.
Closing off his bail application, Codette reiterated that his client had an unblemished record and was not a flight risk.
Jumo Major, 20, of 33 Prince William Street and Maurice Jarvis, 17, of 22 Victoria Road, Plaisance, ECD were unrepresented. The men were silent throughout the proceedings. Jumo and Jarvis spoke only to give their address and age to the Magistrate.
Jarvis also told the magistrate that he had had a previous matter in court for fighting but was not found guilty.
Police Prosecutor Sherwin Matthews, objected to bail being granted to the men on the grounds of the seriousness of the offence. He said too that the information provided by the defence counsel was contrary to what occurred.
The prosecutor added that the articles were not recovered. Rajendra Major, the third accused, the prosecutor said, had left the scene in his car and returned some 15 minutes later. It is alleged he said that Rajendra may have disposed of the items after being stopped.
Then there was the gun which was found with the policeman, the prosecutor further stated. The gun was sent for testing. More importantly however, the virtual complainants positively identified the accused, the prosecutor stated.
The VCs were not present in court yesterday.
After listening to both sides, the magistrate placed Jumo Major and Maurice Jarvis, the number one and two accused, on $200,000 bail each for each count of robbery under arms while the number three accused, Sergeant Rajendra Major was placed on $300,000 bail for each count. The men are to return to court on July 15.
According to a police press release which was issued on June 12, Kailass and Sirpaul were on the roadway at Unity when a car without number plates drove up and two men exited. The men who were armed with a handgun (which later turned out to be a toy gun) and a knife held them up and took away two cell phones, a silver chain and $22,000 and drove away. A report was made to the police who responded promptly and intercepted the car along the Parika Access Road.
The robbery occurred around 19:30 hrs. The release further stated, “Two masked men were seen in the back seat of the vehicle along with the driver who was found to be a sergeant of police. The two masked men were placed into the police vehicle and the driver was observed throwing something into the bushes. The object was retrieved by the police patrol ranks and found to be a toy gun.”
