A suspected vigilante who, back in August 2016, had shot and killed an alleged bandit, was on Monday slapped with a murder charge.
Dead: Seon Clarke
Moses Singh, 59, of Lot 12 Sarah Johanna, East Bank Demerara (EBD), was slapped with the indictable charge which alleges that he, on August 20, 2016 at Pearl Village, EBD, killed 21-year-old Seon Clarke.
Reports are that Clarke and two accomplices were allegedly planning to rob a grocery store in Sarah Johanna, East Bank Demerara. However, the owner of the store realised that he was about to get robbed and raised an alarm. Villagers, including a Policeman who was passing, captured Clarke and one of his accomplices. During the process, Clarke was reportedly shot and the captured accomplice was beaten, while the other escaped. The third accomplice was later caught, and allegedly took investigators to a location at Pearl, EBD, where he handed over a .380 Beretta pistol with six matching rounds.
Charged on Monday for the shooting, Singh had been living in the United States (US) for the past two years, where he was receiving treatment for an illness.
His attorney, Latchmie Rahamat, told the Chief Magistrate that her client was escorted by an alleged Immigration Officer to the airport, where he was handed over to Criminal Investigation Department (CID) ranks.
The Police later revealed that they were unaware of the said immigration officer.
Singh was flown back to Guyana, where he was arrested and charged with the murder of Clarke.
Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield revealed to the Court that his case file on the matter shows that the defendant flew back to Guyana on his own accord. Magistrate Ann McLennan has, however, called for an investigation into the reports.
Singh was remanded to prison. The case will continue on May 17.
Clarke, of John Street, Campbellville, was reportedly a victim of mistaken identity. He was reportedly shot and killed after it was reported that he and an accomplice had attempted to rob a grocery shop.
The businessman had reportedly alerted Police ranks that were in the area, and they had pursued the men who allegedly were trying to rob the grocery shop, but the men had managed to escape.
Clarke and a colleague were later apprehended by members of the community, who spotted them on the Pearl Public Road.
It was reported that during the process of their apprehension, one of the vigilantes shot Clarke and inflicted a beating on his accomplice. The men were handled over to the Police, who rushed them to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, where Clarke was pronounced dead on arrival while his alleged accomplice was treated and sent away.
However, the family members of Clarke revealed that he was a victim of mistaken identity after it was reported in the press that he had previous brushes with the law.
Godfrey Clarke, who spoke with the media following the incident, had revealed that he was the dead man’s father. Margaret Davis, the grandmother of Clarke, said her grandson had never gone by the alias “Cash Money”, and had never had brushes with the law, as was reported by the Police. She added that the name of Clarke’s father is Andre Clarke, and not Godfrey Clarke, as was reported in the press.
The woman claimed that the information provided by the Police was inaccurate, leading to Clarke being misidentified.
As a result, Godfrey Clarke, believing it was his son who had been fatally shot, told reporters that his son, Seon Clarke, had had brushes with the law, and had recently been released from jail in relation to a simple larceny charge.
