PANJIM/ANJUNA: Two gruesome murders rocked the coastal tourist hub of Anjuna within a span of 48 hours even as police claim that the two incidents are unrelated. While the local police were investigating the killing of 70-year-old Luiza Fernandes, another nude female corpse stuffed in three gunny bags was washed ashore.
A decomposed nude body of a woman wrapped in three gunny bags, with mouth gagged with cotton and hands and legs tied, was washed ashore during the early hours of Friday morning. The cadaver of the unidentified woman, indicated that she was in her mid-40s.
DySP Gajanan Prabhudesai revealed that the victim could have been killed some 10-12 days back and prima facie, the death was said to be due to strangulation.
“When our policemen reached the spot, they found the body was packed in a jute bag which was further wrapped in two Goa Dairy animal feed bags. We have alerted all the police stations across the State and asked our counterparts in the neighbouring states for any missing persons reports,” he told Herald. Police teams will be sent to the bordering police stations to collect information.
Anjuna Panch member Sara Naik told media that they informed the police control room, when the locals noticed a body floating ashore. Another resident Narayan Kolvalkar informed that the woman’s legs were tied and mouth was gagged.
Locals say that the body could either have floated in during the intervening night of Thursday-Friday as until Thursday evening nothing was seen along the shoreline.
Goa police are baffled over the blind murders as no clue has till date come to the fore that would lead them to effect a breakthrough. Prabhudesai however was confident that they would ‘100 per cent’ solve the cases. “We cannot disclose everything during the investigation stage,” he added.
In the first case, police suspect that the accused may be known to the victim and there was no struggle marks on the victim’s body and gold ornaments on her were found intact. Prabhudesai said they are waiting for her sister-in-law Tersilla Fernandes (55) – who was also attacked by the unknown assailant to regain consciousness, and whose statement could help the investigation proceed further.
