Daylight murder at Baina
HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, JULY 6
A youth allegedly murdered his friend at Baina-Vasco on Tuesday afternoon.
According to reports, the accused, Ahmed Shaikh (20), allegedly murdered Mehabosabh Mulasabh Kamatgi (33) of Baina, who also had a criminal record in Baina.
The accused allegedly hit a borewell pump handle on Mehabosabh’s head, killing him on the spot.
Mehabosabh’s wife, holding her eight-month-old baby boy, told media that Mehabosabh had informed her that he had a quarrel with Ahmed about a week ago.
Friends of the accused also informed that Mehabosabh along with some persons had allegedly assaulted Ahmed near Hanuman Temple, Baina, about a week ago, where the murder took place on Tuesday.
“Ahmed doesn’t listen to anyone, when he sniffs white-ink (the accused was habituated to the sniffing of correction ink). Earlier, Ahmed had also beaten few other people in an inebriated condition,” said a friend of the accused, who present at the murder site after the incident.
“No one entertains him when he is in intoxicated condition. He also had quarrels with police constables,” added the friend. Relatives of Ahmed added that there were a number of complaints against him.
Caretaker of Hanuman Temple at Baina, Abhimanyu, who was also an eye witness to the incident, informed that Ahmed took the bore well pump handle and hit it on Mehabosabh’s head.
Vasco DySP Mahesh Gaonkar informed that they have identified the accused and efforts are on to locate him.
Incidentally, Ahmed was often seen loitering near the Vasco Railway Station or bus stop hooked to a substance – white ink or the correction fluid used to erase typing mistakes.
“People often used to make fun of him or deliberately beat him, but when he was intoxicated with the white ink, no one dared to repeat such acts,” said his friends who wished not to be quoted.
“Since Ahmed could not afford expensive drugs, he would use the white ink, which is easily available for Rs 20 and one pack lasts a full day,” added his friend.
Family members tried every possible means to ensure that Ahmed got rid of the substance, but in vain.
“Recently, police had detained him for some theft case and recovered stolen valuables and cash from him, but despite that, he was later released,” added his friends.
The small red packet of white-ink bottle carries a warning that states: “contains toluene. Intentional misuse by deliberate concentration and inhaling the contents can be harmful, even fatal.”
Recently when DySP Gaonkar had convened a meeting with the shopkeepers, he had urged them to avoid selling white-ink to street children.
“However, selling white-ink is not illegal or contraband. There are legal hurdles for the police to book people, who misuse white-ink,” said DySP Gaonkar.
Anti-Narcotics Cell DySP Naresh Mahamal said it is a pure misuse of solvents that white-ink contains, since such products are easily available in the market and framing cases against people who misuses such products is legally difficult.
