One after another the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Goa is hitting dead ends in cases that have been handed over to them to investigate. The recent blow was after the court denied permission to CBI to conduct polygraph tests on suspects of the Felix Dahl case. Herald investigation reveals that the fault lies in the very establishment of the CBI in Goa.
Two of the complainants i.e. Mormugao Rape Case and Felix Dahl case have due to dissatisfaction with the investigation taken steps for reopening of cases and also for moving away of cases from Goa CBI to Mumbai CBI.
In a recent letter to the Director of Central Bureau of Investigation, Subodh Kumar Jaiswal mother of Felix, Mina Pironhem has asked for the transfer of the case to Mumbai CBI. In a strongly worded letter Mina said, "This inadequate, unprofessional and biased manner in which Felix Dahl’s murder case has been handled by CBI’s ACB (Anti-corruption Bureau) office, could be a reason for filing a new petition before High Court of Bombay at Goa, which would not show CBI in a good light and is not worthy of CBI’s good reputation. Furthermore, we have concluded that Felix’s death, along with numerous similar tourist deaths, is a systematic cover up by Goa authorities who violate India's obligations under international human rights law," she said.
Mina in her transfer request said, "We ask for your interference in the investigation conducted by the ACB office of CBI at Goa to finally have a competent, impartial and unbiased investigation in the death of Felix Dahl. We ask that the case be transferred to the CBI in Mumbai that has been shown to perform a competent investigation in other similar cases in Goa," Mina requested.
"I cannot continue a normal life until I know what happened to my son and someone is paying the price for killing him. We continue to push the authorities and inform the public until that happens, Mira Pironhem signed off with a hope of justice in the days to come,” she said.
LIFE AFTER FELIX...THE FIGHT CONTINUES...
"The death of one’s child is something the parents never get over it has marked us for the rest of our lives the normal life has stopped, especially when we feel that there were two murders, one of Felix and other one of justice"
She had a lump in her throat while revealing that here are so many cases that have not gone anywhere, But with every article, every media coverage of these cases may save some young life" said Sana Cutter reminiscing the good memories of her loved nephew Felix Dahl. 7 years down, the fight of the family of Felix for justice continues.
“Goa police tried to tarnish the image of the victim," a tired but not unrelenting aunt of Felix Dahl said, while reminiscing the wonderful memories of her beloved nephew. 7 years down, the fight for justice for Felix Dahl continues.
Sana Cutter said that it is a systematic plan to cover up, the main aim is not to find anything. "There are at least 50 unknown deaths of Finnish people in India but no one comes up in the media because this victim blaming and shaming the family works,'' she said.
"In Goa the order comes from the top, "do not investigate" if it is going to affect the tourism," Sana said in a podcast interview in UK recently.
"What Goa Police is saying is completely rubbish, Felix was most likely murdered by hitting him on his head from behind," reiterated Minna Pironhem.
CBI GOA SAGA
Be it the case of Mormugao minor girl rape case or that of Felix Dahl, the Crime Branch Goa has not been able to take them to a logical conclusion for years together. A visit to the CBI Office at Bambolim was enough to reveal that the staff strength is just 20 and the very constitution of the branch will answer why there is no conclusion to the cases.
The CBI Goa Office which falls under the Mumbai zone and was constituted for investigations into Corruption cases. Hence, the name CBI, ACB Goa has been given. Some officials anonymously speaking to Herald said, "It is a branch established to probe anti-corruption cases, wonder how these cases of Mormugao and Felix Dahl landed up here," he said.
To get an idea of the work CBI Goa does in Goa, Herald visited the Office in Bambolim and had a brief chat with the Superintendent of Police Ashesh Kumar. He said "We are not in receipt of any letter for transfer of the Felix Dahl case. In our investigation we haven't found any evidence pointing to any suspect yet," Kumar said.
Ashesh Kumar has taken charge of Bambolim office just recently in 2021 and is probably the third or fourth officer ever to have been posted to Goa CBI office since the case of Felix Dahl was transferred. Mother of Felix Dahl in her interview given to a podcast channel mentioned, “Police and investigation officials has kept changing and every new officer takes a look at the case from the beginning. This and many other factors have only been delaying the investigation.”
While speaking on the office of the CBI in Goa Adv Vikram Varma, who was the counsel for Sana Cutter in the Scarlett Keeling case said that the CBI Goa doesn't have the infrastructure for investigating crimes like murder and rape. They are trained for handling corruption cases of central government employees, bank frauds and other crimes where evidence has to be gathered from more than one State.
“For homicide and other serious crimes the CBI has a special investigations cell, which is well trained in gathering evidence and works very closely with their forensics and prosecution team. It is this cell which sends a team to Goa when requested by the Goa Government,” he said.