Man freed of Coldigen fisherman’s murder

Oct 31, 2023 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

…another to be sentenced

Kaieteur News – Roy Jaglall, one of the accused in the 2020 murder of Mukesh Mangra, was on Monday found not guilty of killing.

Freed: Mukesh Mangra

Mangra, called ‘Paul’, the Coldigen fisherman was murdered on January 18, 2020. The body of 27-year-old Mangra of Coldingen Squatting Area, East Coast Demerara (ECD) was discovered on the evening of January 18, 2020 lying on the road with multiple stab wounds and lacerations.

Police found a blue-handle knife about fifty feet from the fisherman’s body. Family members had reported that they believed that Mangra was attacked and killed during a brawl. Ram and Jaglall were subsequently charged with his murder.

Jaglall was accused of the murder along with Vivekanand Ram. Ram pleaded guilty to the charge at his arraignment before at the High Court. He is set be sentenced on November 9, 2023.

The trial into Mangra’s death concluded on Monday before Justice Simone Morris Ramlall at the High Court where the unanimous verdict was handed down. During the summing up of the trial on Monday, the mixed 12-member jury found Jaglall not guilty of murder and on the proportion of 10:2; they found him not guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter.

Last week, prosecutors called several witnesses including Police detective, Chitram Seeram, who lead the murder investigation. Seeram told the court that he had instructed crime scene ranks to inter alia, to collect video footage from nearby surveillance cameras during the murder investigation.

According to the policeman, the murder occurred in the vicinity of Chico Ramas gas station and Tasha’s bar on the ECD. He said that as a result, he instructed ranks to secure the video footage as part of their evidence gathering. Under cross examination by attorney, Dominic Bess, the officer related that the recordings were taken to the Magistrates’ Court but were not tendered as evidence.

Seeram told the court that the footage was not clear and were not considered crucial.

The detective said too that video footage was taken of a confrontation between Jaglall and another suspect, Tagepaul Sukdeo but it was also never tendered in court. He revealed further that there were about six video recordings that were collected throughout the investigation and they too were not tendered as evidence.

In addition, to the detective, State Prosecutors Rbina Christmas and Dellon Fraser called seven more witnesses including, Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh who gave details of an autopsy he conducted on Mangra’s body. During his testimony, Dr. Singh revealed that the fisherman died of perforation to the liver and lungs.

The pathologist related that the deceased suffered three incised wounds two of which were located in the abdomen and were likely caused by a sharp, pointed object measuring 10cm in length.

Meanwhile, Sukdeo told the court that Jaglall told a group of men that he was hanging out with at Tasha’s bar and a man, he later identified as Mangra, had taken away his cutlass and knife and “want juke he up”.

As a result, the group of men entered a car and went to confront Mangra. When the men, with whom Jaglall was with, confronted Mangra, he attempted to escape but was caught and stabbed about his abdomen with a knife.