VASCO
They may have cracked the case pertaining to the murder of Amar Naik at Bogmalo in 12 hours, but Vasco police got an unexpected break after stumbling upon an ID card in the car abandoned by the two contract killers in their bid to escape from the crime.
The ID card in itself did not reveal the identity of either of the two killers, but an alert Vasco Police Inspector Nilesh Rane probed further and was surprised to find it had details of an alleged gangster from Kolhapur, who had apparently visited the State and had even stayed in Anjuna.
Speaking to The Goan, PI Rane said the Vasco police had been under pressure to nab the shooters before they escaped from the State.
“On the day of the incident, two attempts were made to mislead Vasco police but that did not stop us from pursing and eventually nabbing our targets.”
MISLEADING ID CARDS
“When police first checked the abandoned rent-a-car used in the crime, two ID cards and a mobile phone were found in the vehicle. The ID cards revealed the identity of two persons, one of which was a gangster based in Kolhapur. Police were made to believe that the ID cards belonged to the accused in the murder.”
PI Rane said messages were even posted on social media that a Kolhapur gangster was the main accused, while some even reported that the gangster had been nabbed by the police.
"What actually happened is that after we found the ID card (driving license) of the gangster, we immediately checked into Facebook and it showed the same person and we realised that he may have criminal records.”
“We then went into the court app of Kolhapur jurisdiction and confirmed that he was a criminal and we got in touch with the local intelligence of Kolhapur police and obtained his phone number. We then realised the gangster’s phone number did not match with the number of the phone abandoned in the car.”
“We further investigated and were told the gangster is in the hospital for treatment and these details were obtained in quick time. While the murder at Bogmalo took place at about 5 pm, these details were verified by around 8.30 pm. It could only mean that if the gangster was involved in the crime, he could not have reached Kolhapur in such quick time," said PI Rane.
Disappointed but not deterred, PI Rane realised the killers were some other persons and he was determined to nab them before they could leave the State.
“We then found out that the alleged conspirator, Ravi Shankar Yadav, who had hired the two assailants had used the ID cards of persons who had forgotten their ID cards in the hotel at Anjuna being run by his brother.”
“Based on the car details, Vasco police alerted the Anjuna police to round up those managing the hotel at Anjuna.
“This gave us an unusual break as the Kolhapur gangster had indirectly indicated that he had visited the State, stayed in the Anjuna hotel and had forgotten to take back his ID card from the hotel owner,” said PI Rane.
“The two killers had attempted to mislead police by using ID cards of random people. Had the police not verified the ID cards in quick time, the killers would have managed to give the police a slip and this would have made it difficult to nab them.”
MISLEADING ROUTE
PI Rane said the second attempt to mislead police was during combing operations to nab the killers.
“The killers managed to hide in the bushes after abandoning the rent-a-car and later went towards a railway track. They had plans to board a train to Mumbai and escape from Goa.”
“As the shooters walked along the track from Hollant towards Cansaulim at night, they met a family living near the tracks and enquired about trains leaving for Mumbai.”
PI Rane said the killers in a calm and composed manner thanked the family and began walking towards Vasco for about 500 metres to mislead the family.
“However, after walking for around 500 meters, they got off the tracks and went towards bushes by the side of the tracks and turned back to walk towards Cansaulim railway station.”
“When PI Rajan Nigalye of Vasco Railway Police and his team walked along the track and reached the site, the family said that two persons had enquired about trains to Mumbai and had walked towards Vasco. However, our instincts led us to believe that the criminals were trying to mislead the police yet again.”
“We then heard a train blowing its horn and a goods train was slowing down for a crossing of a passenger train near the Cansaulim station. Acting on our instincts, we rushed to the Cansaulim station and saw two persons planning to get into the goods train which had stopped. We nabbed them minutes before the train left Cansaulim. Had we not followed our instincts, the shooters would have made good their escape," PI Rane added.
