By Musa Paul Feika
Detective Sergeant 10275 Abu Kamara, who is an Exhibit Clerk, attached at the Exhibit Clerk office, Ross Road Police Division in Freetown, has tendered a bone, suspected to be a human bone, to form part of the court`s records concerning the ongoing matter involving four accused namely: Mohamed Conteh, alias Jahanama Fire and three others, who are charged with the offences of murder and obtaining money by false pretences, that are all contrary to law.
Yesterday the accused were standing trial at the Ross Road Magistrate Court No.1, which is presided over by Magistrate Alhaji Suliaman Koroma, to answer to the aforementioned offences.
Testifying in court the Exhibit Clerk, Abu Kamara, highlighted his duties and responsibilities, which are to keep all exhibits in a matter that have been investigated and to tender them in court during when and when it is necessary.
On that fateful day, the witness continued, he was on duty at the Ross Road Police when Detective Sergeant 19169 Campbell C, attached at Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Ross Road Police Division in Freetown, handed over the following items to him for safe keeping, including one Itel mobile phone, one assorted mobile black bag, one survey site plan, one Guinean driver’s license, one assorted color back pad containing gold chain and wrist watch, one female sandal, four Guinean identification cards bearing the name one of the deceased, Musa Sillah, a cocoa cream rubber, one rubber containing unknown substance, a land payment receipt, one USB charger, a white handkerchief, one cream rubber, two shovels, one bone suspected to be a human bone, one iron rod and other assorted documents in an envelope.
The witness said he registered them in an exhibit book against No. 21 2020 and tendered them all to form part of the court records.
The accused are charged with the offences of murder and obtaining money by false pretences, which are all contrary to law.
The police charge sheet adduces that Mohamed Conteh, alias Jahanama Fire and two others, on the 5th March 2020 at Magbafeth Village in Koya Rural District, murdered three Guinean nationals namely Musa Sillah, Mabinty Dumbuya and Soriba Conteh.
The indictment furthered that, on the same date and address, they obtained forty million leones (Le 40,000,000) from the complainants with the pretext of preventing them from evil spirit knowing the same to be false.
The 1st accused, Mohamed Conteh aka Jahanama Fire, and second accused, Maxwell Brown had not been represented throughout the trial except the third accused, who was represented on one occasion during the fourth hearing.
But however bail has not been granted to the accused. They were remanded at the Male Correctional Centre in Freetown and the matter comes up on 8th July, 2020.