Customs Officer on $200k bail for shooting horse cart operators

A 49-year-old Customs Officer attached to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) was granted $200,000 bail when he appeared at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court and was charged with two counts of discharging a loaded firearm and injuring two horse cart operators.

David Ali of Kersaint Park, La Bonne Intention, East Coast Demerara (ECD) appeared before Magistrate R. Liverpool at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

Ali pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him; the case was postponed to March 20, 2022 for statements.

The horse cart operators – Anil Persaud and Reygon Gonzales – were reportedly shot to their leg and foot on March 13 by Ali. The men were cutting grass in an empty lot in Kersaint Park.

Police Headquarters reported that the two victims underwent surgeries at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Ali claimed that the men were in the empty lot next door to his home when one of them attempted to enter his yard and he discharged the firearm in the air and then in the direction of the men.