Murder shocks nation
IN 1985 the manager of the Kings Hotel, Bijendra Rao, appeared in Suva Magistrate’s Court charged with murdering the hotel’s owner, Bob Amos.
According to an article published by The Fiji Times on June 19 that year, Mr Rao appeared with five other men at a special sitting of the court.
They were Josua Ralulu Rabukawaqa, 28, Jagdish Prasad, 43, Jainendra Prasad, 20, both of Toko, Tavua, Jitendra Kumar, 18, of Tagitagi, Tavua, and Manohar Singh, 39, of Suva.
Mr Rao was arrested on June 15.
The four Tavua men were arrested at Wainiboce — about 10 kilometres from Tavua Town — on June 13.
Manohar Singh, also known as Shandil, was arrested in Suva on June 14.
Police alleged that between June 3 and 5, the six men, with another person, murdered Mr Amos.
Mr Amos, 65, was strangled to death and dumped in the boot of his van which was parked at the Royal Suva Yacht Club.
The six men were remanded in custody until July 1 when a preliminary inquiry date would be fixed.
Chief magistrate Gordon Ward ordered that Mr Rao be segregated from the other men after an attempted assault to Mr Rao by one of the men.
The court heard that Mr Ralulu had attacked Mr Rao with his handcuffs at the Central Police Station. Mr Rao’s lawyer, Ikbal Khan, said he had lodged an official complaint to the commissioner of police about the assault on Mr Rao and an explanation as to why Mr Rao’s request to call his lawyer when he was arrested had been turned down.
Mr Khan objected to the adjournment and said it was only enabling the police to build a case against his client.
More than 100 men, women, including civil servants, and children jammed the entrances to the court premises to catch a glimpse of the six men who were brought to court handcuffed.
Mr Rao was surrounded by six police officers as he was escorted through the front entrance.
The other four men were brought through the back of the court premises in a separate van.
The crowd swarmed around the vehicles as they arrived and booed and hurled abuse at the men.
The people thronged to the courthouse as early as 8am that morning and waited for the hearing at 9.15am.
Police prosecutor deputy superintendent Beni Naiveli told the court more arrests were likely in the next days.
The five who had appeared earlier in the special court sitting asked for legal aid and for police protection.
The court heard that Mr Amos’s wife, Prakash, was also questioned during the weekend and was released only after she signed a statement.
The crowd that gathered behind the courthouse braved the rain and cold as people milled around the police mini-bus which took the four Tavua men and Manohar Singh back to prison.
Police officers had to form a cordon from the entrance of the court cell to the mini-bus as the crowd surged forward when the people walked out of the cell.