PANJIM: Apprehending that Ishwar Makhwana would be up to some mischief during trips made to hospitals and court, Goa Police had sought the court’s permission to handcuff him. The application before the District Court, Margao in October 2018 also requested handcuffing Ram Bhariya and Sanjeev Pal considering the serious criminal offences they were charged with. However, the request was turned down. “The three under trial prisoners who are in the Central Jail Colvale, Mapusa-Goa is produced before your court frequently so also they are taken for medical treatment at different hospitals as and when they are sick,” the application by the Escort Cell, Mapusa states, five months after their arrest in the Betalbatim gang rape case. Ironically, the accused were being transported by bus for every appearance in the court. “The three accused are required to be taken to your court by bus which is long and distant journey. There is every possibility of the undertrial prisoners to make a bid to escape from the legal custody. It is necessary to use handcuff to these prisoners while escorting them from the Colvale Jail to produce before this court and different hospitals,” the application stated.
Not many criminals in Goa have been handcuffed despite serious offences against them. The last time Goa Police was allowed to handcuff any accused was the notorious inter-state criminal Michael Fernandes. The gangster who was handcuffed with his accomplice Dipak Kerkar had fled from the IPHB, Bambolim in 2011. It was Kerkar who managed to break the handcuff and both ran in different directions; however Kerkar was caught near Goa University.
