Police say, have recovered knife and clothes
VIBHA VERMA
PANJIM: In the reclaimed land, next to the Mandovi creek in Ribandar, where a labourer was buried after mercilessly being beaten to death, trucks and machinery lie abandoned. The horrific incident, which subsequently led to the murder of the labourer’s wife, whose body was found miles away on Anmod Ghat, has sent a wave of fear among the labourers, most of whom have taken flight to their respective natives.
After the police crackdown here as part of the investigation, Geeta Lamani is the sole adult still living here with her two children. The rest of the labourers have either fled in fear of the police or have gone to other pastures.
“I had to stay back because I am nine months pregnant. I am leaving today for Bagalkot (Karnataka), my native place,” she told Herald as she and her two children ~ a four-year-old son and one-and-half year old daughter, waited for relatives pick them up.
A police constable attached to Old Goa police station is guarding this family, which remains as an important eye witness to the murder. However, Geeta would not talk about the incident that happened on Saturday night.
“I don’t know anything,” she said to every question asked. For her, the priority was to leave this place.
This reclaimed plot along Patto causeway, has four trucks with Osban written on them. Two broken tilling machines and seven shanties remain testament to a prospering business suddenly gone defunct.
The pit where Shivaji Nayak was buried lies open after police exhumed his body on Tuesday night. Old Goa Police also seized the JCB which was used to dig the pit. The area is yet to be sealed off. Contractor Osban Fernandes and his partner in crime Ramesh Bhagwe have been remanded to five-day police custody for the murder of Shivaji and his wife Sujata and also for the attempted murder of their two children.
Meanwhile, the police have recovered a knife used in the double murder case and also the clothes of the victim and her two children.
