RYAN George, 19, and Elroy Brown, 20, both labourers of Supenaam Village on the Essequibo Coast, were, on May 20, slapped with two charges. The duo made their first appearance before Magistrate Esther Sam at the Charity Magistrate’s Court.

They were charged for robbery under arms committed on Mohamed Gafoor and robbery with violence committed on Rasheed Rafee on May 9. The men were not required to plead to the indictable charges.

On the robbery under arms charge, they were both granted $500,000 bail each and for the robbery with violence charge, $200,000 each by Magistrate Sam. They are expected to return to court on June 13, 2019, at the Suddie Magistrate’s Court.

The court heard that Rasheed Rafeek, 27, a speed boat operator of Lot 91 Aurora, Essequibo coast; Premnauth Sookram of Parika, East Bank Essequibo and Mohamed Gafoor were heading to Buck Hall on May 9 around 22:30 hours when their 40HP outboard engine developed a mechanical problem.

While on sea, three masked men, who were armed with handguns and knives, approached the victims, demanded money and began to assault them. They took all the valuables, including fuel, from the men and made good their escape.

The victims were then rescued by Narendra Chattergoon and were immediately rushed to Suddie Public Hospital where they were subsequently admitted as patients. Their conditions were listed as stable.

Meanwhile, family members of the two young men who were hauled before the court are dissatisfied. They told reporters that both men were at home at the time of the incident.

They claimed that police just came and handcuffed the duo without any proper explanation. Family members of both men are baffled as to how two innocent men are charged for such crime when they were at home.