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  • 1 year ago
Two police officers attached to the Caroni police station have been remanded into custody after appearing before a Master of the High Court today, charged in connection with the kidnapping and murder of used car dealer, Sachel Kungebeharry.


The TTPS provided the media with this information at news conference Friday afternoon.
Transcript
00:00Cpl. Ashraf Mohammed, 45, of Kanupia and PC Jason Michael, 34, of Charleville, both appeared
00:05before High Court Master Margaret Sukraj Goswami earlier today.
00:09They were charged with murder and the offence of misbehaving in public office by kidnapping
00:13Sachal Kunjbihari for ransom.
00:16They were represented by attorneys Shiva Budhu and Roshni Balkaran.
00:20Sgt.
00:21Lawrence Jofield is a complainant in this matter.
00:23He informed the court that there were about 40 witnesses in this case.
00:27The High Court Master then set deadlines for the filing of documents before setting a status
00:31hearing for October 29th next year.
00:35The sufficiency hearing was set for November 7th, 2025.
00:39Bail was not considered today.
00:41However, the two police officers were advised to apply to a judge in Chambers to consider
00:46such.
00:47Kunjbihari, 32, from Pierre Road in Felicity, was abducted on September 25th by persons
00:51in a marked police vehicle.
00:54It was said that he was in a car that was proceeding along Jermingham Railway Road in
00:57Endeavour when the incident took place.
01:00The men claimed that they had an arrest warrant for Kunjbihari when they took him away.
01:04His relatives received a ransom request and $500,000 was paid for his release.
01:09However, this did not happen as promised.
01:12His body was eventually found in a shallow grave in Longdonville on October 4th.
01:17He was identified by his fingerprints due to the advanced state of decomposition.
01:21An autopsy performed at the Forensic Science Centre in St. James showed that he died as
01:25a result of chop wounds to his neck and head, as well as a stab wound to his upper back.
01:30The two officers were detained that week.
01:33At the Police Administration Building in Port of Spain today, Deputy Commissioner of Police
01:37Suzette Martin condemned the incident and lamented the fact that officers were involved.
01:42This is a dark day for our country and for all of us who wears the badge.
01:50Let me be clear, this is not just a betrayal of the victims and their families.
01:58It is a betrayal of the trust that you, the public, have placed in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.
02:08She said that the actions of these officers have shaken the foundation of trust which
02:12was essential for the TTPS and as such, she reiterated that all officers who abuse their
02:18authority will be held accountable.
02:20The badge should symbolise integrity, fairness and protection.
02:28When that symbol is tarnished by violence, it is our duty to act swiftly and fairly,
02:38which underscores the zero-tolerance approach.
02:42However, she noted that the actions of a few do not reflect the values of all and said
02:47that there were many hard-working men and women in the service.
02:51Words alone are not enough.
02:56Trust is not something that can be demanded.
03:00It must be earned and we have quite a lot of work to do in that regard.
03:07Following these arrests, Martin said that concrete steps will be taken to ensure better
03:11accountability in the TTPS.
03:14I will ensure that accountability measures are strengthened, not just in response to
03:21this tragedy, but as a long-term commitment.
03:25She also said that the TTPS will be reviewing training programmes and the internal systems
03:30which are meant to prevent such abuses of power.
03:32Assistant Commissioner of Police Kurt Simon and Senior Superintendent Clare Guy-Allen
03:36expressed similar sentiments and promised that the TTPS would weed out all rogue and
03:42vagabond elements.
03:43PC Jason Michael and the other Asraf Mohamed, both of the Karani Police Station.
03:50These officers were so reckless in their crime that they used a marked police vehicle to
03:58carry out this heinous crime of kidnapping and murder.
04:03I want to just assure the public in this instance that you should not lose trust in us.
04:10We have demonstrated time and time again that we are prepared to deal with our delinquent,
04:16rogue or vagabond police officers.
04:18Alexander Brizol, TV6 News.
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