PANJIM: Questions are being raised on Old Goa police’s night surveillance after nearly a dozen masked men attacked a house and vehicles in St Cruz at around 3am on Saturday. The attack, which points to rivalry between two gangs, resulted in the death of a gang member who was accidentally killed in the firing by his fellow gangster.
The attack on the house of Imran Bepari has been captured on CCTV, while the goons damaged another CCTV in the shootout. Sonu Yadav, a resident of Camrabhat and member of the gang involved in the attack, died after a bullet accidentally pierced his chest.
By evening, around 12 suspects had been detained for interrogation and the body of Yadav, which was lying abandoned, was sent to Goa Medical College for postmortem. The forensic team, police sources said, will also examine if the bullet found on Yadav and those fired at Bepari’s house are the same.
A team of police that rushed to the crime scene were busy through the day collecting evidence, questioning witnesses and rounding up suspects to ascertain the cause of the attack.
“Six rounds of gunfire were shot. Forensic ballistic experts will examine if the bullets found in the house and Yadav’s body are the same. Prima facie, it looks to be gang war,” a senior police officer told Herald. Bepari is allegedly involved in two cases of assault in 2018 and 2019 years.
“One bullet hit the fellow gang member who was taken out from there in a wounded condition. He was later abandoned on the border of the village and the other members of the gang fled,” he said.
Sources told Herald that the attack is due to differences between two gangs over collection of hafta. The gang, involved in the attack, and that of Bepari have been in bitter fight over ‘jurisdiction’ to carry out their illegal activities. Ironically, the war between the rival gangs was known to the police. “One gang is involved in collecting hafta from labour contractors, fruit vendors, scrap dealers, guides, pimps and other illegal activities in Old Goa, Panjim, Miramar, Merces and Taleigao. The other gang is also in the same illegal business but since the previous gang has been capturing most of the areas, it led to a bitter fight. The result was the violent attack in a residential area,” the source said.
Reportedly, this is not the first attack, as a similar attack on Bepari’s house was reported six months ago, but no police complaint was filed. “Bepari and his now-rival gang leader were allegedly once operating a single gang but they split due to some issue of jurisdiction and monetary game. Few months back Bepari had allegedly attacked a member from that gang for which he was also imprisoned. On his release, Bepari allegedly recruited some persons to form his new gang,” the source said.
Serious questions are being raised on police efforts and the intelligence when the rivalry between the two groups was not an isolated incident. Similarly, the deadly attack at around 3am, when there is a strict ban on the movement of people from 11pm to 5am, is also being questioned.
Soon after the police formalities at the crime site, Imran’s father told the media that this is not the first attack on his son. According to him, Imran had a narrow escape in the firing early Saturday morning. “The bullet narrowly crossed his head, else it would have pierced his forehead. Around 20 masked men had come firing bullets and damaging cars and bikes. They were carrying koita, knives and guns,” he said. The father also pointed out to a broken CCTV camera claiming it was a planned attack on his son.
Later in the day, Goa Police released a short press statement claiming they have formed teams to trace the whereabouts of the attackers. However, the motive behind the attack and the identity of the gang members have not been revealed so far.
