TEAM HERALD
VALPOI: About 100 villagers from Padose-Sattari on Sunday afternoon marched to the Valpoi Police station and demanded to know why the eye witness in the Padose murder case was asked to report to the police station in connection with the case.
Valpoi Police Inspector Sanjay Dalvi, after according a patient hearing to the mob, clarified that Valpoi Police team had gone to Padose at the site of the offence, to advise the eyewitness to report to Valpoi Police station, to read the statement once again and confirm it before presenting it to the court to make the case strong.
However, the mob took about two hours to be convinced with the statements of the police. The intervention of police and local BJP leader Vishwajeet K Rane finally succeeded in pacifying the mob, which dispersed at about 3 pm.
When contacted, PI Dalvi said he had gone to Padose to ask the eyewitness to come to the police station and go through the statement he had given to police in the Padose murder case before he (eyewitness) appears in the court.
“My intention was to make sincere efforts to make the case strong so that the accused gets the punishment; but unfortunately, the villagers misunderstood me and levelled allegation that I am pressurising the eyewitness,” PI Dalvi told Herald.
“I tried to ask the eyewitness to reveal before the mob what exactly I had told him regarding the case and the eyewitness did tell everything to the mob,” added PI Dalvi.
Sources informed that the mob will meet the Deputy Superintendent of Police at Bicholim to discuss the case further.
It may be recalled that IRB Police Constable Pratap Sawant had allegedly assaulted Suresh Sawant (51) at a cashew liquor distillery unit at Padose on March 28. Suresh was rushed to the GMC Hospital in Bambolim, where on April 2, he died of the sustained injuries. Valpoi Police had arrested the accused and booked him under Section 302 of IPC. The accused was suspended soon after a departmental enquiry the next day of the arrest of the accused.
