PLANTAIN farmer Samwill Intiaz Shaw, alias ‘Taliban’ and ‘Arno’, along with his farmhand Ramsammy Angeshallam, called ‘Babs’, have been found guilty of discharging a loaded firearm at Bajai Ramdass, known as ‘Bruck Back’, with intent to murder him.Justice Franklyn Holder, who presided over the trial at the Berbice Assizes, deferred sentencing to February 15, when Probation Department reports on the background of the prisoners are expected to be presented.

The two were found guilty of attempted murder by a mixed 12-member jury which returned a unanimous verdict after deliberating for just over two hours. The number one accused, Shaw, stared at the twelve-member panel as the verdict was being delivered by the foreman. He was, seconds earlier, seen muttering to himself in an apparent prayer.
Co-accused Angeshallam stared ahead as his verdict was announced.

State Prosecutrix Natasha Backer had led the evidence of four persons, including the victim, who is now confined to a wheelchair and blinded in his right eye.

Ramdass had related that there was a previous incident in which he and the number one accused were involved. He had done plantain farming with the number one accused, but their arrangements had fallen apart and Shaw had refused to pay him, and that decision had resulted in Ramdass filing a court action.

On January 16, 2012, the victim, along with a workman, Hazrat Ibrahim, called ‘Buckman’, left his home to go to the disputed plantain farm at Crabwood Creek. They arrived at 06:00hrs, but before they had commenced reaping, ‘Buckman’ complained of sustaining an injury. Ramdass then called his brother Jagdeo, known as ‘Spraga’, for assistance while the injured man was being lifted into a boat. The boat was moored about 150 to 200 rods away when the two men were joined by ‘Spraga’, who arrived on a parallel dam on a motorcycle, which subsequently pulled the boat along.

Shortly afterwards, the victim saw the accused men, and Shaw pointed a ‘long gun’ at him and Shaw’s hand was on the trigger. He then heard an explosion. Ramdas recalled being shot and falling helpless as blood covered his body. However, he made efforts to move the boat, but the number two accused threw a bicycle tube in front of his boat, pulling the vessel towards Shaw, who threatened to cut out his tongue and dig out his eyes.

Further, the victim recalled, Angeshallam’s attempted to lift him out of the boat. However, Ramdass pulled a cutlass and chopped the number two accused at the back of his neck, forcing him to flee. Shaw then fired another shot at the Ramdass’s face.

Ramdass said he pretended to be dead, and subsequently he exited the boat and saw the accused men running towards the backlands.

He was subsequently taken to the Skeldon Hospital, before being transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital.

Meanwhile, in their unsworn statements, Shaw and Angeshallam denied the victim’s story and alleged that it was Jagdeo, known as ‘Spraga’, who had shot his brother.