KUALA LUMPUR: Two friends pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here today to the charge of robbing a local man, armed with a paper cutter, on April 1.

C. Sureshkumar, 33, and N. Siralan, 36, made the plea after the charges against them were read before Judge Datuk Nu’aman Mahmud Zuhudi.

They were jointly accused of committing armed robbery on J. Melvin Dass, 36, by snatching the victim’s company’s backpack containing cash of various currencies worth RM242,422 at an office in Brickfields at 11.30 am on April 1.

The charge was framed under Section 395/397 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which provides for a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and whipping if convicted.

Deputy public prosecutor Illya Syaheedah Mohd Razif proposed a bail of RM12,000 in one surety for each accused, but lawyer Calvin Lim Sin Guan who represented Sureshkumar and lawyer Charanpal Singh who represented Siralan, appealed for minimum bail because both accused have family dependents.

The court then allowed the two accused a bail of RM7,000 in one surety each and set May 27 for mention.

READ MORE: Unemployed man pleads guilty to armed-robbery