PANAJI
The body of a youth was found floating in River Mandovi on Friday, three days after he was reported missing following a serious car-bike collision on the Old Mandovi Bridge.
The Panaji police confirmed that the body pulled from the river, floating near an offshore casino vessel, was that of Mohammad Aga, who was flung into the Mandovi in a road crash involving a Karnataka-registered car.
The family has refused to accept this as an accidental death citing fresh signs of head injury.
"He (Aga) has been hit on his head. The bleeding is fresh... The body is not bloated as it should be in the case of a body found after three days. It is quite clear that he (Aga) has been murdered and the body was thrown into the river last night (Thursday)," the deceased's family alleged demanding a homicide case against the culprits.
Aga reportedly attended a party on August 30, which was in the know of his parents.
According to his parents' media statement, Aga called informing them that he was leaving for home but didn't reach prompting them to file a missing person complaint.
Around 1:30 am on August 31, an accident was reported on the Old Mandovi Bridge wherein an MG Hector car bearing registration number KA-35-P-3786 collided with a two-wheeler GA-07-J-5738. Reports stated that the biker was adjusting his raincoat and flung into the river owing to the strong impact.
The Panaji police located a body on September 1 but the family confirmed it was not their son, although the bike did belong to him.
As the search continued, the 21-year-old's body was located near the casino on Friday morning. His identity was established through an ATM card. The Panaji police called his parents for identification. The shocked family has now demanded a murder case even as Panaji police have detained the car occupants including its driver for the negligence resulting in the fatal accident.
An officer told The Goan that they will accept the family's complaint, but an autopsy will ascertain the cause of death. The deceased's post-mortem is likely to be carried out on Saturday.
"We have registered a case of accidental death but are open to investigating all angles leading to his death. However, we will take appropriate action after the autopsy report," the officer said.
The car had four occupants including the driver when the accident occurred. It is not known if they were inebriated.
In a recent instruction to his police force, Director General of Police Jaspal Singh has asked them to punish only visible violations and vehicles, and particularly tourists shouldn't be stopped. His directions at a review meeting of his subordinates came given allegations by the general public and the tourists that the visitors were being unnecessarily harassed by the traffic police.
Mohd Aga's parents have sought action against such errant drive-in tourists and rental vehicles alleging they have been a nuisance to other road users.
