The brothers accused of gunning down businessman Shailen Singh on Sunday in Umhlanga made their first appearance at the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
Weeks after celebrating his first wedding anniversary and two months after welcoming his first child, the 32-year-old logistics company owner was shot multiple times while seated in his vehicle in a parking area on Meridian Drive in Umhlanga.
During proceedings, the court heard that the names of the accused were released on various platforms before they were formally charged and an identity parade conducted.
Defence attorney for both accused, Ravindra Maniklall, said the accused handed themselves over to the police on January 1 as the police were searching for two vehicles belonging to a security company called Pro Secure.
“They were told on the 2 January that there is a witness in the matter and an Identity parade will have to be performed,” he said.
Maniklall said all parties had done everything possible to ensure that the integrity of the parade was not compromised in any way as it works in favour of both the State and the accused.
“Your worship yesterday (Thursday), unfortunately the identities of both the accused were released to the media. Their names and photographs appeared on all platforms for some reason and the accused were then charged late yesterday afternoon,” he said.
According to Maniklall, the names of the accused were released before they were formally charged by the police.
“The accused are still prepared to stand in an ID parade even though its value may have been significantly diminished,” he said.
Maniklall appealed to the court to set down the bail application as soon as possible as both brothers run their businesses in the security and construction industries.
He said the reason for the urgency for the bail application is due to the fact that accused number one is the CEO of Pro Secure and has a staff complement of 3 000 employees while the second brother has 40 employees.
“They both are hands-on and involved in their businesses,” said Maniklall.
Senior State prosecutor, Nkululeko Msiya, said as far as the State is concerned, the witnesses are not on social media to be made privy to who the accused are. “As things stand right now, our argument is clear that our witnesses have not been compromised, the ID parade has not been compromised.”
Msiya asked the court to still provide them with the opportunity for the ID parade to be conducted.
He told the court that preliminary investigations revealed that accused number one owns a firearm that has not been handed over to authorities and he asked for the cellphone pin codes of both accused to be handed over to police for further analysis in the investigation.
The prosecutor noted that the accused have several properties that still need to be verified and witnesses interviewed in preparation for the bail application.
The State made an application for the matter to be remanded for investigation in lieu of the schedule 6 bail application.
Magistrate Ashwin Singh ordered that the matter be adjourned to January 13 for a formal bail application and both accused were remanded in custody at the Durban Central holding cells.
He said the pin codes of both accused’s cellphones are to be given to the SAPS immediately after their appearance; a firearm belonging to accused number one, which is in an apartment in Johannesburg, is to be handed over to the investigating officer or a member of his team; and for the identity parade to be conducted before the bail application next week.
The court was packed with the family and friends of the victim, who wore #Justice4Shailen T-shirts with his picture.
Shailen’s father, Pradeep Singh, who shares a business property with his son, said they did a lot of charity work and they are receiving a lot of support from the public.
He said their employees were picketing outside the court, calling for justice to be served.
“The support in court is minimal because a lot of people had to be turned away because of space… it’s phenomenal support that we are getting,” he said.
Describing the day of the shooting, Pradeep said his son asked his mother to prepare breakfast and then left, indicating that he would be back in 15 minutes. “He came back home in a casket.”
Pradeep said he has no words to explain what the family are going through and described his son as “a non-drinker, non-smoker, an astute businessman who does not have a criminal record, no pending cases, and lived his life on a straight line.”
“All I want is a fair trial and bail to be opposed and the general (KZN Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi) to oversee that this matter is handled with honesty and my son must get the justice he deserves and justice for his two-month-old baby,” he said.
