PANJIM: In
a setback for Goa Police who had claimed to have busted a kidnapping and gang rape
of two Delhi women a year back, the Additional Sessions Court has acquitted the
four persons accused of the offence.
The
foursome, identified as Ajay Kumar Kushwah, Jeevan Pawar, Nadeem Khan and
Trevor Joseph along with a juvenile accused, were charged with multiple offences
of impersonating anti-narcotics officers, kidnapping the girls and a male
driver, holding them hostage at Calangute and raping the girls.
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According
to the prosecution, taxi driver Abhijit
Kochrekar – a crucial
witness – had narrated to Anjuna police how he was forced to drive to a 2-BHK
flat at Kobrawado (Calangute) where he and the two girls were held hostages in
separate rooms.
“The men
on two motorbikes accosted the taxi from its either side while enroute to
Arpora, and asked the driver to halt the vehicle. They forcibly sat in it
impersonating as ANC personnel,” the police had said at a press conference
after cracking the case in June 2015.
The
prosecution led by F Noronha examined five witnesses, including three victims,
who could not identify the accused. Additional Sessions Judge Vijaya Pol
observed that the prosecution failed miserably to prove that the offences were
committed by the accused, and thus ordered acquittal.
The
defense counsels included Advocate Galileo Teles, who argued on behalf Kushwah,
Adv D Sawant for Khan and Adv S Porob for the other two accused.
