A JURY has acquitted Sanjay George of the 2016 murders of Mohamed Munir, 75, and his wife Jamilla Munir, 70 — a couple from Good Hope, East Bank Essequibo (EBE)— who perished after bandits set fire to their home.

The verdict of not-guilty was reached following two hours of deliberation at the High Court in Demerara before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow.

George was initially charged with murder but the jury acquitted him of the charge with a unanimous verdict of not guilty. However, the jurors were unable to reach a verdict on the alternative charge of manslaughter.

George was represented by Attorney-at-Law Kiswana Jefford from the law-firm of Hughes, Fields and Stoby.

The defence argued that George was beaten by the police while in custody and forced to confess to the murder. George was in custody since December, 2018 and has maintained his innocence throughout.

In 2023, George’s three co-accused—Jason Howard, Shamadeen Mohammed, and Joel Blair—were freed after the jury was directed to return formal not guilty verdicts.

This followed the court’s finding that there was no evidence linking them to the crime and that the accused had sustained unexplained injuries while in police custody.

Mohammed and his wife perished shortly after 23:00 hours on April 17, 2016, after they were trapped in the raging fire which destroyed their heavily grilled, two-storey house.

Their badly burnt bodies were retrieved from the debris after the fire was finally extinguished. Eyewitnesses had claimed that the blaze started in the upper flat and spread throughout the house within minutes.

Reports indicated that one of the suspects, who lives at the back of the Munirs, revealed to a friend that the couple had millions of dollars in cash in their house.

According to reports, a gang of six, which included a driver and a lookout, was formed and the plan was hatched to rob the couple.

Police investigators said that the men, upon breaking into the couple’s house, hunted for valuables and, in the process, the couple woke.

This newspaper had reported the perpetrators then attempted to gain access to the couple’s bedroom at the rear of the building, but because of the security feature, they were unable to do so.

The angry bandits then decided to light a sofa afire and threw a gas bottle into the fire, resulting in a loud explosion minutes after they fled the scene.

They then fled through a track that led to a church and a cemetery in a street behind the couple’s house. The Munirs were heard by neighbours screaming for help.