14 Jan 2021  |   05:25am IST

Board recommends pre-mature release of 5 convicts

Team Herald

PANJIM: The State Sentence Review Board has recommended pre-mature release of five convicts including four involved in the infamous Mandar Surlakar murder case of 2006. The Board has stated in its proposal to the government that necessary permission be sought from the concerned courts hearing their respective matters, for the release. 

Rohan Dhungat, Jovito Ryan Pinto, Nafiyaz Sheikh and Shankar Tiwari are amongst the four accused serving life sentence for murdering Surlakar. Their good behaviour within the jail premises and outside during their furlough period is one of the reasons recommending their early release. 

All the accused are presently serving their sentence in the Colvale Jail with some of them also pursuing further studies through distant course. 

The Mandar Surlakar case dates back to August 14, 2006 when the victim was abducted by the accused and taken to Ucassaim to the residence of one of the accused. 

Here, the accused persons assaulted and tied down the victim with ropes and forced him to record a message for his father to pay ransom, without reporting the matter to the police. The same day, a demand was made to the victim's father for ransom of Rs 50 lakh. The victim's father thereupon, rushed to Vasco Police. The following day, Surlakar’s body was found at Alra Keri, near Ponda.