THREE men appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry yesterday to answer a robbery under arms charge. 

Howard Rambharose, 21, of Lot 6 Meadow Bank; Rajesh Singh of Lot 212 Laing Avenue and Alastair Naughton, of Phase Two, East La Penitence, all of Georgetown, were not required to plead to the charge that said on Friday, December 20, also in the city, being armed with a gun, they robbed Mahesh Chetranie of $17,250,000, property of Shamdas Kirpalani.
Police Corporal Bharat Mangru, prosecuting, said Singh was employed at Kirpalani on Regent Street and is responsible for depositing money at the Bank of Baroda.
That day, he and the store manager Chetranie uplifted the money and boarded the company vehicle to make the deposit at the bank. While in the vicinity of Avenue of the Republic, they were stuck up by Rambharose and Naughton, who relieved them of the cash and made good their escape.
The prosecutor objected to bail for the trio, citing the seriousness of the crime and said and if granted pre-trial freedom the accused will not return.
However, attorney-at-law Mr. Nigel Hughes, representing Singh, argued that his client has been working with Kirpalani for the past six years and depositing money.
Hughes said on the day in question, Singh was questioned by a police officer at Brickdam station and was arrested from his workplace Christmas Day.
The lawyer complained that Singh was beaten by two particular officers, Narine and Caesar, with a police baton and there were signs of blood 24 hours after and visible black and blue marks on his neck but he was not taken to seek medical attention.
The chief magistrate asked the prosecutor to investigate why the accused were not taken to seek medical attention and the allegation made by the defence counsel.
Hughes said that Singh’s mother and daughter were also locked up and abused from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day.
Other attorney-at-law Mr. Clyde Forde represented Rambharose and, together with Hughes, made bail applications for their clients.
Meanwhile , Joan Persaud, of Lot 216 Laing Avenue, Georgetown, was also not required to plead to the charge that said, on December 20, in Georgetown, as well, she received the sum of $370,000 knowing it to have been stolen.
The 55-year-old year old security guard was also represented by Hughes who requested that she be admitted to reasonable bail.
Prosecutor Mangru objected to the grant, on the grounds of the quantum involved and the fact that she may pose a flight risk.
However, the objection was overruled and Persaud was allowed to post $100,000 and Singh $500,000 bail, while the other two defendants were remanded to prison until January 14, 2014.