GEORGE TOWN: Two friends, both businessmen, were charged at the Sessions Court here today with robbing over RM231,000 in front of a bank last month.
K. Darmendran, 37, and R. Nagendran, 21, pleaded not guilty to the charge which was read to them before judge Norsalha Hamzah.
The duo was represented by A. Chandra Segaran and Hari Prassaad Rao while Deputy Public Prosecutors Haresh Prakash Somiah and Yazid Mustaqim Roslan prosecuted.
According to the charge, both are alleged to have used a gun to rob Abd Latif Shabudin, 62, resulting in a loss of RM231,879.15 belonging to SRT-EON Security Services Sdn Bhd, in front of the Alliance Bank at Jalan Tun Dr Awang about 10.51pm on Dec 16 last year.
Haresh told the court that the prosecution team would not propose for bail for both the accused on grounds that they could tamper with the witnesses.
Chandra Segaran, however, told the court that it was a mere presumption.
"The court may allow my clients conditional bail," he said.
Norsalha then allowed RM15,000 bail with one surety each and imposed an additional condition that they have to report to the nearest police station every month.
"The court also prohibited both the accused to approach the victims and witnesses," she said.
She then fixed Feb 20 for mention pending document submission.
It was reported that a man snatched a bag containing money in front of the bank before escaping on a motorcycle with his accomplice mid-last month.
A security guard was injured in the process after being hit by a pistol-like object before they fled the scene.