PANAJI: A car rental owner from Candolim has been arrested for allegedly murdering his client, a 19-year-old youth from Uttar Pradesh, whose body was found in a hilly area of Pirna yesterday morning. The case was solved within 15 hours of being reported, with Colvale Police apprehending the main accused while a manhunt is on for his associates.
In a press report issued today, North Goa SP Rahul Gupta informed that the accused, 31-year-old Gurudat Lawande, was detained by the police late last night. “During interrogation, Gurudat admitted to having committed the crime along with his other associates, who are currently at large,” SP Gupta said.
The victim, Kapil Chaudhary, was found lying motionless by the roadside in Cansa-Thivim around 8.30 am yesterday, with multiple injuries on his face and abrasions on his hands. He was declared dead on arrival at the Mapusa District Hospital.
Investigations revealed that Chaudhary had hired a Thar SUV from Lawande on October 30 by producing a soft copy of an MDL in the name of Deepak Thakur. “When Gurudat found through a tracker that the vehicle had crossed the Goa border towards Banda in Maharashtra, he and his friends followed it in another car and traced both the vehicle and the deceased at Kankavli,” SP Gupta said.
“They then brought him back to Thivim, where they assaulted him with fists, kicks, and a wooden stick before leaving him injured in a hilly area around 11 pm,” the SP stated. “They also placed an empty liquor bottle in his pocket to make it appear as though he was drunk.”
