PANJIM: The Division Bench of the High Court of Bombay at Goa, comprising Justice N M Jamdar and Justice Prithviraj Chavan, on Friday ordered the transfer of the murder case of Swedish national Felix Dahl to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
During the final arguments, advocate Shikha Sethia, representing Dahl’s mother, argued that the youth’s death was unexplained, still a mystery and alleged that the local police had messed up the investigation.
Public prosecutor S Rivonkar defended the police saying that the investigation carried out by Canacona police found no evidence against the ‘suspects” in the case and that the injuries on Dahl’s head were circumstantial, caused because he fell down.
Rivonkar also stated there was no financial motive to kill the 22-year-old foreign national as his bank balance was not much and refuted claims that a huge amount of money was withdrawn from Dahl’s bank account prior to his death.
Dahl’s mother Minna Pirhonen, represented by Sethia, had appealed to the court to transfer the case to CBI claiming that the police had carried out a shoddy investigation despite evidence pointing at murder.
Goa Police decided not to file a charge sheet stating they hadn’t found any evidence to prove murder. In 2016, a case of murder was registered after the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) directed Goa Police to do so.
Rivonkar, during the hearing, had objected to the petition arguing that Goa Police have done a thorough job based on the medical report and statements of witnesses.
Dahl was holidaying in Goa from October 2014 and is said to have been last seen at a restaurant in Patnem, before his body was found by the roadside, a little away from the restaurant. A local who saw Dahl’s lifeless body informed the police.
Pirhonen, when contacted said, “I have just finished reading the judgement. I am surprised because it is so outspoken. I am very happy with the conclusion. It captures what I have felt from day one about the police and their lack of interest in the possibility that it could be a homicide. There are suspects whose involvement should be investigated properly.”
