Team Herald
MARGAO: Colva Police this morning arrested 21-year-old Aman Gopal Kavatiya for the murder of 53-year-old Baptisto D’Costa and recovered crucial material belonging to the victim from the accused.
By around 9.30 last night the police had practically concluded that Aman was the alleged murderer but he would not concede and it was only at around 2.30 am that he admitted to committing the crime and thereafter at around 11.30 he was officially arrested under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code for murder.
A huge crowd gathered at the Colva Police Station in the afternoon as the news spread that the alleged murderer was caught and the crowd was demanding that the accused be shown to them. Police had a tough time in controlling the crowd and keep Aman safe. In fact, police personnel from Margao had to be rushed to Colva for assistance.
According to the Investigating Officer Filomeno Costa, it was a well-planned and pre-mediated murder as Aman took Baptisto to the Lovers Beach at Betalbatim. While Baptisto drove to the beach in his Maruti Omni, Aman followed him on his Dio scooter and after committing the murder he returned home on his scooter.
Sources revealed that when Baptisto’s wife Santana came to lodge the missing complaint on Sunday morning, Aman accompanied her as he was known to be quite friendly with the deceased. Incidentally, Aman is a Gujarati, but was born and brought up in Pune and living in Colva for quite some time now.
Aman led the police to the scene of crime and helped them recover the murder weapon which was a knife he had purchased a few days back and which he had thrown in the bushes at Lovers beach after committing the crime.
Besides, police also recovered Baptisto’s mobile from Aman which mobile was missing from the time he was dead. Police also recovered a chain, rings and a bracelet belonging to Baptisto from Aman.
“We have also recovered the clothes that were worn by the accused when he committed the crime besides also recovering the scooter that was used to commit the crime,” said Filomeno adding that all these things were recovered at the instance of the accused.He however refused to state the motive for the murder saying that he still has to interrogate the accused more to find out the exact cause for the murder. Aman will be produced before the court on Wednesday for police remand.
Incidentally, this is the third murder to be solved by Filomeno in the last one year, as he had earlier arrested Vikat Bhagat for the murder of the foreigner at Palolem and also arrested the husband wife duo along with the husband’s two friends for the murder of Samuel alias Rahul at Varca whose body was then buried in the sand at the beach.
—
‘Harassment’ by victim led to murder
Superintendent of Police Arvind Gawas disclosed that the real reason why Aman murdered Baptisto was because the latter was harassing him too much due to the intimate relationship that the duo had even though the relationship began only in October 2017 when Aman got to know Baptisto. People in Colva have seen the two together and very often in the evening they would sit together for a drink. Gawas said Aman was addicted to alcohol and was earning only Rs 400 per day which was not sufficient to satisfy his craving for alcohol. On the fateful day, Baptisto had around Rs 10,000 in cash with him besides his gold ornaments may have enticed Aman to kill and take away the goods to get some money.“However, he has confessed that the real reason was the constant demands from Baptisto for pleasure that made Aman think of killing him and because of which a few days before he went and purchased a knife,” Gawas said.
