Three police officers accused of assaulting and extorting a Chaguanas businessman, last week, have been granted a total of $550,000 bail.
Sgt Ramgoolan Deosaran, 44, of Rochard Douglas Road, Barrackpore; PC Anton Samson, 38, of Palmiste, Longdenville; and PC Inshan Khan, 32, of Brickfield, Waterloo, were granted bail after they appeared before Magistrate Marissa Gomez in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday in relation to criminal charges arising out of the incident.
The three officers, who were last assigned to the Chaguanas Robbery Squad, were charged with misbehaving in public office by assaulting and falsely imprisoning Koon Orie Narine, of Carapichaima.
Deosaran was slapped with two additional charges for misbehaving in public office by demanding $50,000 from Narine with malice, and for threatening Narine to not make a report against him and his colleagues.
The trio stood silently in the prisoner’s enclosure.
Their lawyer Taradath Singh asked Gomez to grant them reasonable bail as they are police officers with no prior criminal records.
While police prosecutor Insp Rajesh Lall did not object to bail, he stated that conditions should be attached based on the serious nature of the charges.
Samson and Khan, who have nine and ten years’ service, respectively, were granted $150,000 bail each, while Deosaran, who has been a police officer for over 20 years, was granted $250,000 bail.
The officers’ relatives, who were in court for the hearing, were allowed to co-sign for their bail.
As part of the conditions of their bail, Gomez ordered the officers to report to their nearest police station once weekly, to surrender their passports and to refrain from contacting Narine for the duration of the case.
She also stated that they had to inform the court if they planned to move from their current addresses.
According to reports, detectives of the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) began investigating the officers after Narine made a report to them, last Friday.
Narine reportedly made arrangements to purchase a car last Thursday but was confronted by three men when he arrived at the location. The men reportedly held Narine hostage and demanded $50,000 for his release.
Narine was allegedly able to contact relatives, who paid $35,000 before he was eventually released.
A press release on the trio’s court appearance, from the T&T Police Service (TTPS), stated that during the course of the investigation, police found three illegal firearms, an air rifle, 70 rounds of ammunition, 28 packets of marijuana, a quantity of cocaine and an undisclosed quantity of cash hidden in the Chaguanas Police Station. However, the three officers were not charged for the illegal items.
The release stated that investigations were ongoing into that discovery.
The trio is expected to reappear in the Chaguanas Magistrates’ Court on July 9.