SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: In a major U-turn, Goa Police have finally admitted that St Cruz violence was due to a fall out of rivalry between two groups to establish their supremacy. The statement made before a local court on Wednesday comes at a time when senior officers have been contending that the attack on Imran Bepari’s house was due to a woman.
“The interrogation of accused persons namely Sunny D’Souza and Francis alias Franky Nadar was carried out on June 23, 2020 and it was revealed that the incident was a fallout of a gang rivalry between Boom Boom gang operated by Imran Bepari and Bang Bang gang operated by the applicant accused person (Zenito Cardozo) wherein both the gangs were trying to establish tier supremacy over each other,” the Old Goa Police’s application opposing Zenito’s anticipatory bail, reads.
The submission made by PSI Chetan Saulekar has also indicated that Zenito is the “prime conspirator” of the attack, contention which the police department was initially reluctant to accept.
The Principal District & Sessions Judge, North Goa is hearing the anticipatory bail filed by Zenito. The history sheeter is on the run since the day of the attack on June 20 when one gang member was accidentally killed by his fellow gangster.
Raids across several places have fetched no result even as dozens of people, associated with him have been questioned to get leads about his whereabouts.
The Inspector General of Police Jaspal Singh, in his latest media interaction on July 3, denied linking the attack to gang rivalry. “That has not come in the investigation (referring to gang war theory). The basic issue in this dispute was about a woman… We have so far arrested 22 persons and 12 arrests were made within 24 hours. We are serious about this case. We cannot call it a gang war. The issue was something else,” he was quoted as saying.
Advocate Arun Bras D’Sa, appearing for Zenito, has told Herald that he will file a rejoinder to Goa Police’s reply before the court, on their U-turn into the case investigation. The court has scheduled the matter for next hearing on July 10.
