Team Herald
PANJIM: History-sheeter Ishwar Makwana, arrested on charges of gang rape along with two accomplices in May 2018, had tricked the police to escape from the TB Hospital, Taleigao six months later and continues to be on the run. While the incident came as a black mark on Goa Police and an embarrassing failure to track the notorious criminal even after more than a year of his escape, the suspended police personnel are enjoying their part salary with no progress in the ongoing disciplinary enquiry against them.
In the early hours of December 10, 2018, Makwana, one of the three accused in the horrific Betalbatim gang rape, escaped from Ward Number II of TB Hospital at Taleigao where he was admitted for treatment. He, along with two others allegedly involved in the offence, was earlier lodged at Colvale Central Jail.
The three Indore-based accused – Makhwana (24), Sanjeev Dhananjay Pal (25), a teacher by profession and Ram Santosh Bhariya (24) – were arrested in May-end for allegedly raping a 20-year-old girl on Betalbatim beach. They are also charged with forcing the girl’s male friend to rape her while they filmed the act. The accused had threatened to circulate the video on social media if they failed to pay Rs 1 lakh. A charge sheet was filed in July 2018.
The escape of the accused from the custody of the Escorts Police Team exposed glaring security lapse resulting in suspension of one head constable and three constables. As police’s failure to also track the accused are to the fore, the department claims they have left no stone unturned to put him behind the bars again.
“Our teams had camped at all possible locations including his native place to arrest him. Efforts are on to track his whereabouts,” Inspector General of Police Jaspal Singh said denying the ‘police’s failure’ theory.
The department has conceded that Makwana is well aware of the loopholes in the system and has ‘learnt to escape as well as to conceal himself from the police.’
Sources said that while the teams spent weeks to locate him after his escape from Goa, they also kept a vigil at every movement of his ex-girlfriend who is a management student in Jamshedpur. “We established contact with our counterparts in Jamshedpur who questioned the woman. She denied having any links with Makwana claiming they broke up. However, we learnt her locations were quickly changing. Nothing could be established though but nevertheless she is still on our radar,” a source told Herald.
Makwana is wanted in many other cases at his native and other places. The last, before his Betalbatim crime, he had raped and murdered a couple for which the Indore police are still on a look out.
—
Only one witness examined
MARGAO: The Court, in Margao, has examined only one witness in the Betalbatim gang rape case where three persons from Madhya Pradesh are the accused. The alleged accused are Ram Bariya, Sanjeev Pal and Ishwar Makwana. The main accused, Makwana, escaped from the police custody when he was undergoing treatment at the TB Hospital at Tambddi Mati, Taleigao.
