THREE men were on Thursday placed on bail when they appeared at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court to answer to charges on a number of offences deemed to be in contravention of the Customs Act.

They are 37-year-old Rovindra Ramdeo, a minibus driver of Section ‘D’ Non pareil, East Coast Demerara (ECD); and 25-year-old Stephon Motielal and 19-year-old Trevor Motielal, both fisherman of the same Beehive, East Coast Demerara address.
One other person was expected to appear in court but was not there, as the police have, since the incident, been unable to lay their hands on him.
The men were arrested for allegedly engaging customs officers in a shootout on June 7, 2018 when the latter visited a Beehive address to conduct a search and remove suspected smuggled items.

But when the men appeared before Magistrate Peter Hugh on Thursday, it was not to answer to that charge, as that aspect of the investigations is still ongoing.
Instead, the Motielals were each slapped with two charges, these being obstructing customs officials from carrying out their duties and aiding and abetting, to which they both pleaded not guilty.

Ramdeo, on the other hand, was charged with knowingly dealing with unaccustomed goods. He, too, pleaded not guilty to that offence.
Attorney-at-law Jason Moore, who represented the interests of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), objected to the Motielals, and not Ramdeo, being granted bail due to the seriousness of the offence.

He told the court that seeing that the file on the matter has not yet been completed, he would prefer that the Motielals be remanded until the next court date, as the consequences of their actions also involved the lives of the customs officers.
The magistrate, however, asked how long it would take him to put the file in order and he tentatively set a date for next week, but the court gave him another week and fixed the date for June 27 instead for the return of the matter.

The Motielals’ lawyer, Stanley Moore argued that his clients should be granted bail as they were initially kept beyond the legal 72-hour detention period, and it was only after the police realised their mistake that they sought and secured permission to continue holding the men for an extended period.

After listening to arguments from both sides, Magistrate Hugh granted each of the Motielals bail in the sum of $200,000 on each of the two charges.
Ramdeo, too, managed to secure bail in the sum of $200,000. The men were ordered to lodge their passports with the police, and to check in with them periodically at times stipulated by the investigating ranks.

It is expected that as early as next week, the trio, and possibly the fourth man who has not yet been located, will again appear in court to answer to the offence of shooting at the customs officers.

Sources close to the investigations have suggested that the men may be slapped with the charge of attempted murder, once the file is returned from the Director of Public Prosecutions.