Isoof to file fresh bail applications

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Murder accused Mohammed Raheesh Isoof. Picture: FILE/ REINAL CHAND

A fresh bail application for Mohammed Raheesh Isoof, the man facing multiple murder charges in the death of a Nadi family in the Nausori Highlands, will be filed at the High Court in Lautoka next week.

Defence lawyer Iqbal Khan said his client would complete his two years in remand on September 8 and it would be a perfect time for him to file his bail application.

Mr Khan said under the Bail Act, a person could not be kept in remand for more than two years unless justice demanded it.

The case will be called again on October 6 for mention.

Mr Isoof faced five counts of murder and one attempted murder charge and had been remanded at the Natabua Corrections Centre ever since he was first taken into custody two years ago.

His two earlier bail requests in the past two years were both denied by the court.

A trial date was also set for Mr Isoof this year, however, this had to be vacated because of the pandemic.

It is alleged that between August 25 and August 26 in 2019, Mr Isoof murdered Nirmal Kumar, 63, his wife Usha Devi, 54, their daughter Nileshni Kajal and her two children Sanah, 11, and Samarah, 8; and he attempted to murder an 11-month-old baby who was found abandoned at the same location.