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Trial into murder of Pike Street businessman underway….Cop recounts collecting blood samples, bullet from crime scene
A Crime Scene Investigator testifying in the trial of Travis Mc Dougal, yesterday recalled that a bullet and samples of blood were collected from the vicinity where Pike Street Businessman, Ashok Raghu, was allegedly shot in August, 2014.
Travis Mc Dougal
Mc Dougal is indicted for murdering Raghu.
According to the facts of the matter, Mc Dougal and another person murdered the businessman in the furtherance of a robbery.
The businessman’s wife was also shot in the process. Justice Navindra Singh is presiding over the trial at the Georgetown High Court.
Yesterday, State Prosecutor Tuanna Hardy detailed the facts of the case before calling her first witness.
According to Prosecutor Hardy, on August 18, 2014, the Raghus left home to conduct business.
She said the couple was using their family car to run errands when the vehicle stopped at the traffic light at Vlissengen Road in the vicinity of the Botanical Gardens.
They were shot and had their belongings forcefully taken away.
Hardy is presenting the matter in association with State Prosecutor Siand Dhurjon.
The accused is represented by Attorney -at –Law, Nigel Hughes. Yesterday, Crime Scene Investigator, Mark Gasper told the court that he visited the scene of the shooting along with a party of policemen.
According to Gasper, the officers collected bullets and what was suspected to be blood at the scene of the crime. The policeman recalled that the samples were collected and placed in an evidence bag.
The policeman’s evidence followed the evidence of the daughter of the deceased.
Vinata Raghu told the court that on the day of the incident, her parents left their home; her father was carrying his usual black haversack. She said she was not sure what was in the bag.
The witness said that the next time she saw her parents was at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, (GPHC). Her father, she said was unconscious but her mother was awake.
According to Raghu her mother had called her; she immediately left and went to the emergency room of the GPHC.
Initial reports had indicated that Raghu of Pike Street, Campbellville, was shot in the chest, while his wife, Shyrazadi Raghu, was shot in the thigh by two gunmen on a motorcycle. The gunmen cornered them at the Vlissengen and Regent Road traffic light.
The robbers escaped with a bag containing an undisclosed sum of cash and the slain man’s licenced handgun. Raghu operated a gold mining operation at Arimu Backdam, Cuyuni, and the family had recently moved from Berbice to Georgetown.
Raghu had picked up his wife from a City bank and was heading south along Vlissengen Road when they were forced to stop at the traffic light near the Botanical Gardens.
The gunmen then rode up to the couple’s Toyota Carina, PGG 8291 and tried to relieve the businessman of his money.
One of the robbers shot Raghu when he resisted. The businessman was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, (GPHC).
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