Alleged Chats killers in court
Suspects in killing of moneylender appear in court
Alawyer among a group of seven people charged with the murder of moneylender Narend Anandrai is confident she will get off the hook.
“I’m a criminal lawyer,” Jayshree Baijnath told The Independent on Saturday yesterday after appearing briefly with the others in the Durban High Court.
“The chances of them getting a conviction are slim.”
Less cheerful was the widow of Anandrai, Jayshree Pillay, who sat in the gallery with her sister-in-law and one of her late husband’s employees.
Pillay gave birth to her third child just a month after her husband was killed. She said attending the hearings was difficult.
Gregory Pillay – a drug addict and no relation – is serving 18 years behind bars after confessing to the March 2014 murder in Havenside, Chatsworth.
At his trial he claimed he had been paid R20 000 for the hit, although he said he had been promised R120 000.
Also in the dock with Baijnath yesterday were advocate Veronica Rathilal, as well as policeman Claude Reginald and Rajendran Chetty, Shana Magroo, Sudesh Ghooruhoo and Dhanaselan Manickam.
They face an alternative charge of conspiring to murder Anandrai. The accused are on bail and have indicated they will plead not guilty.
The brief hearing began after an hour’s wait, only to be postponed to Wednesday after defence lawyer Christo van der Merwe submitted to Judge ZP Nkosi that he could not divulge the reasons for requiring a postponement. Van der Merwe is defending Rathilal.
According to the State’s summary of substantial facts, it is alleged that Anandrai was known to all seven and that the two lawyers are alleged to have borrowed money from him, which they were apparently unable to repay.
“Some time prior to the incident in question, they decided to have him killed. On Tuesday, March 18, 2014, (Magroo, Rathilal and Baijnath) conspired with their co-accuseds and other persons known and unknown to the State to execute their plan,” the indictment read.
It is further alleged that they hired Gregory Pillay to commit the murder for a fee. That night, Anandrai was apparently lured by the accused to Manickam’s house, and on his arrival, while seated in his Mercedes Benz sport utility vehicle waiting to enter the property, Pillay shot him.
His car caught alight after the shooting. The post-mortem examination found the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the chest.
The State alleges that the murder was premeditated and that all seven accused acted with common purpose to kill Anandrai.
There were originally eight people in the dock, but Logandren Francis has subsequently entered a plea bargain with the State and confessed to being an accomplice to the murder. He was given a five-year suspended sentence.
Forty-three witnesses are listed.
Six of the seven are on bail of R10 000. Magroo’s was set at R5 000.