Four men were on Tuesday jointly charged with the murder of the elderly rice-farming couple, Mohamed Munir and his wife, Bibi Jamila, who were burnt to death in their Good Hope, East Bank Essequibo home in April.

Jason Howard called ‘Smelly’; Sanjai George called ‘Coolie boy’; Shamadeen Mohammed called ‘Milo’ and Joel Blair were not requited to plead to the charge which alleged that on April 17,2016 at Good Hope, East Bank Essequibo they murdered the elderly couple in the course or furtherance of arson.

They appeared before City Magistrate Faith McGsty at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court and were remanded until January 12, 2017. The case was transferred to Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.

The major breakthrough in the case came after Howard was nabbed following a high-speed chase by Police following a brazen daylight robbery of Baldeo Seegobin, an accountant attached to Tower Hotel last Wednesday.

Munir, 75, and his Bibi, 69, perished shortly after 23.00 hrs on April 17, 2017, after they were trapped in the raging fire which destroyed their heavily grilled, two-storey house. Their badly burnt corpses were retrieved from the debris after the fire was finally extinguished. Eyewitnesses said that the blaze started in the upper flat and spread throughout the house within minutes.

Reports indicate that one of the suspects, who lives at the back of the Munirs, revealed to a friend that the couple had $20M cash in their home. A deportee was then contacted and a gang of six, which included a driver and a lookout, was formed and the plan was hatched to rob the couple.

Police investigators learnt that the men, upon breaking into the couple’s house, hunted for valuables and in the process, the couple woke up. This newspaper understands the perpetrators then attempted to gain access to the couple’s bedroom at the rear of the building, but because of the security feature, they were unable to do so.

The angry bandits then decided to light a sofa afire and threw a gas bottle into the fire, resulting in a loud explosion minutes after they fled the scene. They then fled through a track that led to a church and a cemetery in a street behind the couple’s home. From their hiding place, they heard Mohamed and Bibi Munir screaming for help.

Police have received reports from a neighbour, who said that she saw two persons in the couple’s verandah before the fire broke out.

The neighbour also claimed to have heard Mrs. Munir screaming that ‘bandits’ were in the house. Ranks from the force’s Major Crimes Unit are spearheading the ongoing investigation.