One man found dead in the bank vault and more than Rs 51 million unaccounted for, six suspects behind bars and two contradictory versions to explain the crime. This is where we are more than one week after the murder of Gérald Lagesse, a 49 year-old employee of the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB), on the morning of Friday 11th February.

Two of the suspects arrested allege that Gérald Lagesse was an ?accomplice? in the hold-up. This was a most unexpected development and the police seem to be having much difficulty in shedding light on this case (see inset).

Jiawed Ruhumatally was the first to surrender to the police. As soon as he was arrested, he gave an astonishing version of the crime to the police. According to the suspect, he went to the MCB with Steve Monvoisin but they were not the ones to commit the hold up. He says Gérald Lagesse allegedly told them to tie him up and beat him to substantiate the theory of the hold-up. Ruhumatally declared that the bank employee gave them Rs 500,000, which they hid in some bushes in Quatre Bornes. His death, alleges Ruhumatally, was mere ?bad luck?.

Steve Monvoisin, who also surrendered to the police, confirmed his allegations. But the police doesn?t dismiss the fact that they could have agreed on what they would say before coming to Line Barracks and are sceptical about this version, as there is nothing to prove what the two suspects are saying. One thing the police are quite sure however is that the criminals benefited from internal complicity at the MCB ? the name of an executive is being mentioned in official circles ? they cannot say yet whether Gérald Lagesse was involved in the theft. The more so as the Rs 500,000 could not be found despite the precise indications given to the police and as the allegations come from persistent offenders.

Both suspects contend that one of the attendants ? arrested on the day of the murder with his two colleagues and suspected of conspiracy ? was the link between a high executive of the bank and the suspects. Poovaden Subbaroyan, known as Vinesen, has started making his statement to the police. This could take the investigation a huge step further as it could help identify the mastermind behind this sordid crime. The police intend to confront Ruhumatally and Vinesen.

Beside this surprising version of the case, another one confuses the issue even further. Satrojeetsingh Sotrooghan, the third suspect in the murder, has a totally different version of the story. He said that he didn?t even know what was happening in the bank - the two other suspects allegedly contacted him to drive them and that was all. So far, the two other suspects have confirmed his version.

But Sotrooghan goes even further in his statement. While Ruhumatally and Monvoisin assert that Gérald Lagesse?s death was accidental, Sotrooghan says they knew what they had done. They had traces of blood on them and looked satisfied with the way things had taken place. Sotrooghan added that he had heard about Lagesse?s death on the radio and this is how he became aware of the real story.

<I>While Ruhumatally and Monvoisin assert that Gérald Lagesse?s death was accidental, the third suspect, Sotrooghan, says they knew what they had done. They had traces of blood on them. </I>

The role of the press questioned

After the "quick" arrest of the suspects in the MCB case, everybody thought it would be solved quite rapidly. The relatives of Gérald Lagesse and the whole population have the right to know the results of the enquiry. This is why the press comes out with fresh news to try and give more information to the public on a case which is of interest to everybody. How could the most secure place of the bank be attacked and the huge sum of Rs 51 million vanish from the coffers without anyone being any the wiser? The press is not searching for scoops. Information is checked and counterchecked before being published. And, when the police are following a lead, details are usually published with all necessary precautions while stressing that they are not definite conclusions of an enquiry. As from now, however, information will be very hard to get as the police have had strict instructions not to give any details of the enquiry to the press.