Cop freed of gun possession charge to sue police

A police corporal, who was acquitted by a San Fernando jury, on Monday, intends to pursue legal action against his colleagues who arrested and charged him for the illegal possession of guns and ammunition which, he said, was planted on him.

Cpl Nanan Balgobin was on trial before Justice Carla Brown-Antoine in the San Fernando First Criminal Court. After a three-week trial, the nine-member jury returned in under an hour and announced the not-guilty verdict.

Prosecutors alleged that on October 10, 2003, Balgobin was driving on the SS Erin Road, Santa Flora when he was stopped by two senior policemen, one of whom is a retired ACP, while the other was assigned to the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit.

They allegedly had a warrant to search Balgobin’s home at Quarry Village, Siparia and were on their way there when they met him. In their testimony, they said they found a revolver and 25 rounds of ammunition in Balgobin’s front pants pocket. They said they took him to his home and searched but found nothing illegal. Balgobin was on suspension at the time.

In his defence, Balgobin said he was on his way home from filling water in Santa Flora when an unmarked black Toyota Yaris began following him and eventually pulled up alongside. He said two armed men in plain clothes got out. Thinking they were bandits, Balgobin said he sped off but was chased through Ramdass Trace, off SS Erin Road, Santa Flora, and his car was shot at. He eventually saw a marked police vehicle driven by Cpl Krishna Ramsaroop. As he was speaking to Ramsaroop, the men in the Yaris drove up, got out and started shouting, “Police, police” before snatching Balgobin. He told the court he was then taken to a Petrotrin field road in Santa Flora, where he was beaten and held against his will for about three hours.