PANJIM: Marcelino Dias, amongst the 10 accused arrested in the St Cruz shootout, is alleged to be the one who accidentally shot Sonu Yadav, police sources said. It was only after a local youth rushed to inform them about injuries on their gang member that Yadav was taken to hospital where he was declared dead by the doctors.
“The gang wanted to scare Imran Bepari and decided to fire some gunshots at his residence. While attacking his house with the weapons they carried, Imran’s family retaliated by throwing dumbbells on them. While escaping from his house, Marcelino accidentally shot at Sonu, who was running behind him,” a police officer told Herald.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
In the melee, the attackers didn’t realise that the bullet had been shot at Yadav and not member of Imran’s family. “A local followed Marcelino and the others till Taleigao to inform them that the man they abandoned was their member. The juveniles were sent back to the crime site who rushed Sonu to the hospital. He was declared dead,” the officer said, adding that the teams formed to investigate the crime first caught the juveniles followed by the other arrests.
The attack was reportedly an impromptu decision taken at a birthday party at Yadav’s residence. Sources said the accused, all of whom were inebriated at the party, decided to attack Imran. Incidentally, Imran was not present at the time of the incident.
The dispute between the two rival groups, police say, is not collection of hafta but a woman.
Marcelino, who had escaped to Thane in Mumbai after a similar incident about three months ago, had returned to Goa about a fortnight before the shooting. Nearly all the accused involved in the present offence have a criminal record.
Goa Police PRO Shobhit Saxena, on being asked about the incident, said they are investigating all angles of organised crime. “We have zero per cent tolerance towards the crime especially organised crime. Goa Police has historically, and till date, dealt with organised crime very strictly. In this case also, all angles of organised crime are being investigated. However, the instant case cannot be said to be a result of any sort of hafta collection or related activity. The motive, which so far has been ascertained, is that of some personal enmity between two persons that escalated into a fight between two groups,” he said speaking to Herald.
Denying inaction, Saxena confirmed that the accused arrested in the St Cruz shootout do have criminal record, some of whom have trials pending against them. “Preventive action is being taken. With immediate effect we have stationed emergency PCR Robot at St Cruz round the clock,” the SP added.
The Old Goa Police made further arrests by evening taking the total arrested persons to 14, besides three juveniles who are lodged at Apna Ghar. Suraj Shetye (42), Vishal Golatkar (32) both resident of Merces, Adil Makandar (27) of Chimbel and Javed Bellari (19) of Dona Paula are now in the custody of the police.
