In the Assize Court | Kusraj Lutchigadoo affair: Me Bhagwan: “The credibility of Rajiah and Reddi under strain”

Judge Lutchmyparsad Aujayeb, sitting in the Court of Assizes, heard submissions from lawyers involved in the Kusraj Lutchigadoo case on Tuesday. This case, which was awaiting a judgment, had been reopened to hear two new witnesses in this case. However, in her intervention in Court, Me Bhavna Bhagwan, the representative of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), questioned the credibility of the witnesses Rajiah and Reddi. Kusraj Lutchigadoo is facing a charge of drug dealing with aggravating circumstances namely: attempt to possess synthetic cannabinoids for the purpose of distribution with an averment of trafficking, in contravention of the provisions of the Dangerous Drugs Act. He is accused of having tried to take possession of two packages of synthetic drugs, with a total weight of 2.5 kg on February 27, 2018 in Ébène, which had been delivered to him from France by DHL. The recipient of the package was listed as Keshav Ramsurn. The DHL delivery person was named Frédéric Annea. The latter was in fact participating in a Controlled Delivery exercise set up by the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU), which led to the arrest of the man named Lutchigadoo. Annea was then the main prosecution witness against him. But while the trial against Lutchigadoo in the Assize Court ended in March 2022, and the Court was to render its judgment in this case, his lawyer, Me Gavin Glover, Senior Counsel, had in May 2024, requested the Court to reopen the trial to take note of new evidence exonerating the defendant. Judge Aujayeb granted this request and ordered the trial to be reopened on February 23, 2026. A man named Mahesh Rajiah explained in court that he knew the "real" Keshav Ramsurn, and that it was not Lutchigadoo. A police officer, Basana Reddi, convicted in another drug case, for his part, explained that, while he was on Remand, he had met the called Annea. The latter allegedly explained to him that the police had told him to incriminate Lutchigadoo, in exchange for his immunity. The police officer had explained that he did not want an innocent person to languish in prison and had decided to reveal everything. "Witnesses of convenience" Mr. Bhagwan indicated that in view of certain inconsistencies in the testimonies of Rajiah and of Reddi, their credibility was put to the severe test and that the Court had to completely ignore their testimony. She questioned why they waited two years, since the trial ended in 2022, before coming forward in 2024. She accused them of being "convenience witnesses" in favor of the accused. Me Yanilla Moonshiram, Senior Counsel, defending Kusraj Lutchigadoo, for his part maintained that the key witness in this case,