12 Jun 2023

A Molepolole man, Sadiq Tajbhai (33) who is accused of killing a taxi operator, has been denied bail by Gaborone High Court.

This follows the defence attorney, Mr Kabelo Nkwe’s plea before Justice Dr Sadique Kebonang on Friday that his client be granted bail.

Mr Nkwe said as provided for in section 114 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, Tajbhai was entitled to approach the High Court at any time to apply for bail as the matter would be tried at the High Court.

Furthermore, he said Tajbhai was a Motswana with no connections outside the country and there was no evidence to suggest that he could skip the country nor fail to attend the court while on bail.

Asked by Justice Dr Kebonang to comment on the state argument that the accused was a society risk considering how the deceased was killed, Attorney Nkwe said the state based their arguments on allegations, hence the court could not deny his client bail based on allegations that were not substantiated by any evidence.

“It is an allegation my Lord, there is nothing the state has put forward to substantiate that allegation,” Mr Nkwe said.

However, the state prosecutor, Mr Tshepo Malepa said the accused person should not be admitted to bail because he was a danger to the society and was found in possession of an unregistered firearms.

He said issues of the investigating officer statement and forensic evidence to substantiate the charge against Tajbhai were dealt with at the magistrate court.

Further, he said Tajbhai faced a number of charges including robbery, theft and murder, which latter carried capital punishment and investigations were ongoing.

Mr Malepa explained that the matter would, within a month, be committed to the High Court and investigations would have been completed by then.

At the end, Justice Dr Kebonang said considering the state submissions, it would be improper to grant the accused person bail.

Tajbhai’s charges included robbery, malicious damage to property and murder, for allegedly killing a Molepolole taxi operator on January 24. ends