Man battles for life while cops play dumb

GERARD DE SOUZA
gerard@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: As the year draws to an end and the State grapples with the attack on a ruling party MLA by his own party workers, police apathy probably due to political patronage has allegedly sent one person to hospital where he is fighting for his life. The man, he has named as his attacker, is still absconding.
The case ~ shocking for its callousness by the police ~ a story of kidnapping, confinement and torture may sound difficult to believe and would have been just another one where a body was found dumped somewhere. But this man had enough courage and strength to crawl out of the garbage dump at Ganeshpuri, Mapusa where he was thrown presumed to be dead and was lucky to be found by passersby.
Apathy or political pressure could be the reason why police did not take seriously several complaints filed by the victim’s family who had named one Rupesh Mhamal allegedly close to local MLA Laxmikant Parsekar.
Now, battling for life at the Goa Medical College and Hospital after being stabbed in his face, abdomen and denied food for several days during his confinement Manoj Fati Kedar, 42, has named one Rupesh Mhamal a resident of Mandrem in his statement.
However, Parsekar said he was not aware of any of this and would be out of station for the next few days.
The police also did not take calls.
Speaking to Herald, his distraught wife narrated the horrific tale.
“He went missing on December 18. He did not return home and his mobile was not reachable. On the next day, I filed a missing complaint with the Arambol police. It was only on December 21 that I received a call from them saying he was found,” Soniya Kedar said.
Manoj, a rickshaw driver by profession, was kidnapped along the slope at Agarwada after dark by two men, one of whom he says he recognized by his voice to be Rupesh Mhamal. He was blindfolded with a bed sheet wrapped around his head, dragged into a vehicle and taken to an unknown location, according to his statement to the police.
Here he was kept for three days before being thrown in a garbage dump ~ his hands and feet tied, a plastic bag over his face and unconscious.
During his time in captivity, Kedar alleges Mhamal continuously poked sharp instruments into his body, gave him a drink that he thought was water but instead put him to sleep. He was gagged, blindfolded and his hands were tied all the time. Between bouts of sleep, he would be stabbed in his face and abdomen to keep him awake. He was kept without food and was barely conscious on the third day where managed to loosen his feet. He was attacked again and rendered unconscious.
That was the last Manoj remembers after he awoke to the barking
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of dogs near the Mapusa garbage dump.
While a case now stands registered with the Anjuna police, the story began much earlier when Kedar and Mhamal were friends and both karyakartes of the ruling BJP. However, they had a fallout some two years back over political reasons and since then, Mhamal has been threatening to kill Kedar.
Earlier this month, Soniya narrates, “Mhamal came with a group of men with sticks” to attack them as they returned home. They sought police protection and were escorted home in a police jeep.”
No action was taken against Mhamal for several threats as “each time a complaint was made, he would go to the police station and say he had the support of Laxmikant Parsekar and the police would not register the case”, she said.
Kedar now lies battling for life at GMC with his wife by his side while Mhamal is yet to be arrested.