Team Herald
PANJIM: Marathon meetings of the Goa Police with their counterparts in the neighbouring states helped them track down a murder accused, 18 years after a group of men, including this one person, had allegedly hacked a man to death in Peddem-Mapusa.
Dashrath Chatursingh Rajput, now aged 45 years was arrested from Pune after a tip off from the Sahakar Nagar Police Station in Pune. The case dates back to 1999 when the former construction labourer and nine others, including site contractor/s held two alleged thieves – Ashiana Khutnurkar and Khaja Pathan – captive in an under construction structure and assaulted them. The assault resulted in the death of Khutnurkar but the nine accused were acquitted by the local court for want of evidence while Rajput was absconding.
“We had shared details of criminals and proclaimed offenders with Maharashtra police during inter-state meetings. The officers forwarded details of Rajput to Pune police who managed to trace his whereabouts. Our team soon left for Pune and took him into custody,” Mapusa PI Rajendra Prabhudesai told Herald. The accused was brought to Goa on Monday and remanded to three days of custodial interrogation.
According to the case details, there was a series of petty thefts at the construction site that the then police team was unable to crack. A group of labourers and contractors had chased and caught three persons of which one managed to escape. The workers then allegedly assaulted the two men. “They were rescued as the third suspected thief alerted the police about the incident. Both the men were seriously injured and were rushed to hospital. However, Khutnurkar succumbed to the injuries,” the PI said quoting the chargesheet.
The FIR, which was initially registered under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 324 (assault) of IPC had sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of IPC added to it. Nine accused were arrested and charged for the offence, while Rajput was declared absconder. The nine accused, after trial, were acquitted.
With the arrest of Rajput, Mapusa police will begin investigations against him and file a supplementary chargesheet. Prabhudesai said that if required the witnesses might be summoned again for questioning.
