Judge warns murder accused Amrit Sen against witness manipulation

Labasa lawyer and murder accused, Amrit Sen, has been warned by Justice Pita Bulamainaivalu to avoid attempting to manipulate a State prosecution witness during his trial.

Sen faces 12 charges, including one count of murder, seven counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm, one count of criminal intimidation, and one count of conspiracy to defeat justice and interference with witnesses. Another accused, Shumendra Chandra, is represented by defense counsel Simione Valenitabua Junior from Suva.

Sen, representing himself in the case, is facing charges related to the death of his vehicle passenger, John Rusiate, on June 5, 2022, along the Nasikasika sugarcane access road at Korotari in Labasa.

The incident occurred after he allegedly reversed his vehicle over his passenger.

During the trial, Justice Bulamainaivalu instructed Sen to be cautious in his questioning of State witness Nitesh Sharma.

“The state witness is not here to be IQ tested on the processes involved with giving a statement to police,” the judge warned.

Sen had argued that Sharma’s police statement could be compromised due to translation issues from English to Hindi and questioned Sharma on the details and timing of his statement. Sharma told the court that he gave a truthful account of the incident but could not recall the exact details.

“I have the incident rooted in my heart and I will not forget it until I die,” he said.

Third accused, Muqatadeer Saif Kaiyum, has been granted immunity by the court from eight charges, including one count of aiding and abetting murder and seven counts of aiding and abetting attempted murder.

During cross-examination, it emerged that Sen shared a close, nearly 20-year relationship with Sharma. Sen questioned him about farming tools he used as a sugarcane farmer, including pick-axes and knives, and about possession of a gun, which Sharma admitted.

The prosecution objected to the line of questioning, and Justice Bulamainaivalu instructed Sen to focus on the key points of his argument.