MARGAO: All the four accused in the murder of Rahul alias Samuel Soren of Assam were sentenced to life imprisonment by Additional Sessions Judge Edgar Fernandes. All four were migrants hailing from Jharkhand but residing in Goa.
It may be recalled that Samuel Soren was murdered at around 2 pm on December 12, 2017 in the room at Pedda Varca and later in the night his body was buried in a sandy area about 500 mts away from the place where he was murdered.
The body was recovered on December 15 following a complaint lodged by Jose Elvino Furtado from Chandwado Varca and investigations were conducted by then Colva Police Inspector Filomeno Costa who identified two of the murderers and traced them to a rented premise at Santemol in Raia.
The arrested were Pradeep Horo and Safar Khan, natives of Jharkhand, and they confessed committing the crime.
A police team led by PSI Anand Shirodkar then went to the heavily naxalite infested area and at a place only 155 kms away from the Nepal border arrested Mangra alias Suraj Gope and his wife Ettan Devi and during interrogation Suraj said Samuel was murdered because he was having an affair with his wife.
He was murdered by hitting him with iron rods and bricks and after he died they kept the body in the kitchen and had a party to celebrate Suraj’s daughter’s birthday and when the children had gone to sleep in the night, the body was taken out and buried.
Upholding the Public Prosecutors Subhash Dessai and Devendra Korgaonkar’s arguments, Judge Edgar sentenced all four to life imprisonment and also to three years imprisonment for attempting to destroy evidence.
