As a senior magistrate freed the man charged with the murder of Police Constable Anil Persad who was shot in the forest during a police exercise, she heavily criticised the police evidence in the matter.
Rio Claro resident Manickchand Rajaram who was also charged with other offences arising from the May 2011 murder walked out of the Rio Claro Magistrates Court a free man on Thursday after Magistrate Armina Deonarinesingh upheld a no-case submission made by defence attorney Ashton Diananth.
In giving her decision, Deonarinesigh said there were too many holes in the police evidence and too many questions were left unanswered.
Rajaram was arrested and charged two years after Persad was shot and after his mother, Radica Maharaj-Persad, led a public campaign demanding justice for her son’s death.
She had questioned whether her son was accidentally shot by one of his own colleagues and they were afraid to tell the truth.
Ruling that a prima facie case had not been made out against Rajaram, the magistrate said she was not satisfied with the evidence as too many questions were left unanswered.
While she thanked state prosecutor Sarah de Silva for her comprehensive and eloquent submissions, the magistrate said the evidence was discredited and unreliable.The magistrate added it was clear from the police complainant ASP Hendron Moses’ demeanour that the case was just handed to him and he did what he did. She added that it was not the court’s duty to connect the dots.
Moses was among 12 police witnesses and a scientific officer who gave evidence in the preliminary inquiry, which began last year. Rajaram was charged in 2013 with Persad’s murder, six counts of shooting with intent, possession of arms and ammunition and possession of 39 kilogrammes of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
Persad was killed during a marijuana eradication exercise in the Cushe/Charuma forest on May 12, 2011.
The state’s case was that Persad, who had nine years experience, was among a party of police officers who was fired upon by one of five men who were tending marijuana plants in the forest.
The police alleged the shooter was Rajaram. Persad turned to run and was shot in the back. Police returned fire killing two of the men identified as Teeleckchand Arjoon, 46, and Jagdeo Seecharan, 47. The other two men ran off.
Persad, who was attached to the Rio Claro Police Station, was airlifted some two hours later to the San Fernando General Hospital where he subsequently died.
An autopsy found he bled to death.
Three guns, five buckets of marijuana and several marijuana trees were tendered into evidence during the inquiry at the end of which Diananth made the no-case submission.