PRELIMINARY inquiry into the murder charge against alleged narcotics dealer Salim “Black Salim” Bacchus, 52, of 39 Line Path ‘D’, Skeldon, Corriverton, Corentyne, Berbice, has begun in the Springlands Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Krisendat Persaud. Bacchus, for whom a wanted bulletin had been issued, is charged with the murder of police narcotics detective Constable Jirbahan Dianand, allegedly committed on September 14 last.

The murdered policeman was found slumped in his car, parked on a desolate stretch of road at Jackson Creek, Upper Corentyne, with two bullet wounds to his head.

When the trial began last Thursday, main prosecution witness Azim Seegobin, nephew of Salim, gave his evidence-in-chief, in which he related the sequence of events that transpired on the fateful night and afterwards.

At conclusion of his evidence, he was cross-examined by defence counsel Ramesh Rajkumar. He has thus far been in the witness box for more than two days, being grilled by Attorney-at-Law Rajkumar, and is expected to return to the box on Monday, January 14, when the matter is to continue.

The case for the prosecution is being presented by Superintendent R. Tyndall. The prosecution is contending that sometime between September 13 and 14, 2012, at Jackson Creek, Bacchus murdered Detective Constable Jirbahan Dianand.

The story came to light when police arrested three men following a carjacking incident at Jackson Creek, Upper Corentyne. Two of those men were arrested on the West Coast of Berbice. After intense grilling by investigators, one of the men, a nephew of Bacchus, admitted to knowing about the killing of Detective Dianand, implicating Bacchus as the gunman.

The nephew allegedly told investigators that Bacchus shot Dianand twice in the head after a pre-arranged deal went sour.