Elderly Areal man smothered to death

TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Residents of Mugalli, Sao Jose de Areal woke up to the shocking news of the cold-blooded murder of 67-year-old retired assistant engineer Satish Kudchadkar in the wee hours of Tuesday.
The murder-cum-robbery of the retired Water Resources Department engineer sent shock waves across Salcete, even as police attributed the crime to the same gang involved in a spate of burglaries in the taluka over the last two months.
The incident came to light at around 6.15 am when the 10-year-old granddaughter of the deceased saw one of the robbers moving out of the house. It was only after Kudchadkar’s body was found on the floor in his bedroom that the family members realised that he was murdered.
Maina Curtorim police said Kudchadkar’s wife Hema (59), a teacher in Model High School, Margao, tried to call him on his cell phone at around 3.15 am when she found her bedroom door latched from outside. Police believe that the robbers must have latched the bedroom from outside, where Hema and her granddaughter were sleeping, before opening the latch in the wee hours while leaving the house. Hema, sources said, was shocked to see her husband ~ who had undergone angioplasty recently ~ lying cold and the cupboards ransacked and immediately contact Pradeep Kenkre, a relative, who intimated the police.
Like in the cases reported at Navelim, Raia and Sao Jose de Areal, the robbers effected entry into the house by removing the window grill. District police Chief Shekhar Prabhudessai said the post mortem examination revealed that Kudchadkar died of smothering. “May be there was a scuffle between him and the robbers as evident of a small abrasion on his leg”, he said.
Prabhudessai said the robbers managed to steal Rs 20,000 from the house, besides fake jewellery.
As the incident sent shockwaves in the locality, the police requisitioned the services of a dog squad and finger print experts. Police said they have so far failed to obtain any lead in the investigation, even as locals lamented that the dog squad arrived late. “If one goes by the modus operandi adopted by the robbers, it appears it is the same gang involved in targeting houses in Navelim and Raia by removing the window grills”, SP Prabhudesai said.
Velim MLA Benjamin D’Silva and Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco later visited the Kudchadkar residence while District Collector, ND Agrawal along with district officials also paid a visit this evening to take stock of the situation.