Cops charged

SUNIL TOTA-MAHARAJ, 30, a member of the Police Service’s Inter-Agency Task Force, was yesterday denied bail and remanded into custody by a magistrate after he appeared in the Point Fortin Court charged with attempted murder in last Saturday’s shooting of Steffan Mervyn Caton, 19. Tota-Maharaj had been in police custody since his arrest on Borough Day in Point Fortin after he allegedly shot Caton in the back of the neck outside a bar in Egypt Village, Point Fortin. Senior Magistrate Hubert Charles was told by the court’s police prosecutor that Caton is still warded in the Intensive Care Unit of the San Fernando General Hospital.

The incident sparked a protest by Egypt Village residents who marched to the Point Fortin Police Station on Monday, and demanded justice for the teen’s shooting. Around 10 am yesterday, police officers escorted Tota-Maharaj, of Temple Street, Mt Lambert, into the court through a back entrance. He and another member of the Inter-Agency Task Force had been assigned to perform special surveillance duties in Point Fortin during the Borough Day celebrations. The magistrate read the charge against Tota-Maharaj, which alleged that on May 6 at Southern Main Road, Egypt Village, he wounded Steffan Mervyn Caton, with intent to murder him. The accused policeman was not called on to plead.

Attorney Prakash Ramadhar requested that bail be granted to the policeman, but police prosecutor Sgt Rohan Bedassie objected. Bedassie told Charles that the victim was still warded in critical condition at hospital. Ramadhar persisted in seeking bail for Tota-Maharaj, telling the magistrate that the accused was the father of a one-month-old baby. The attorney requested medical evidence be produced to substantiate the contention that Caton was in critical condition. Charles upheld the objection for bail and remanded Tota-Maharaj into custody. Tota-Maharaj will reappear in court tomorrow. The magistrate advised him that he has a right to apply to a judge in chambers for bail. Charles entertained a request from Ramadhar, who asked that the police provide the defence with a list of incidents involving attacks against policemen in Point Fortin on Borough Day.

Cops accused of kidnap get bail

By Khrystal Rawlins

Bail was granted by an Arima magistrate yesterday to two police officers charged with the kidnapping of Venezuelan Michael Arvelo, who was snatched from the car park at Trincity Mall on April 29. However, PCs Levelle Long and Kenneth Le Blanc remain in custody as no one posted bail which had been granted by Magistrate Deborah Quintyne in the sum of $100,000 each. The bail had  to be approved by a Clerk of the Peace, following bail applications by attorney Sean Cazabon on Monday.

The arrested police constables were also ordered to surrender their passports forthwith to the police. The policemen, who were charged last week for the kidnapping of 28-year-old Arvelo are jointly charged with two other men for the offence. Their co-accused, Roger Bridgeman was granted bail in the sum of $120,000 while Roger Lindsay was denied bail by the magistrate and remanded into custody. According to Quintyne, Lindsay was denied bail due to pending ammunition related matters he had before the courts. The policemen and their cohorts were granted bail despite the fact that tracings for the accused men were not available for yesterday’s court proceedings.

According to the police prosecutor, prints were not available due to a discrepancy at the fingerprinting office in Port-of-Spain. Attorney Ian Brooks, who appeared for three of the accused persons, argued that the alleged kidnappers were arrested since May 4, therefore giving the arresting officers sufficient time to have the accused persons traced. A fifth person, Michael Charles, who is charged with falsely imprisoning Arvelo during the period April 29 and May 3, was granted bail in the sum of $80,000 to be approved by a Clerk of the Peace. The Venezuelan was reportedly kept at a house in Bon Air Gardens, before escaping from his abductors on May 3. The matter was adjourned to May 19.