THE GOAN SPECIAL
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MURDER UNSOLVED - I
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Though Goa police made a quick breakthrough in the sensational murder of Monika Ghurde, there are a few cases where police probes seem to have not gone in the right direction. In a 3-part series, beginning today, The Goan Everyday brings to you some of those cases
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THE MURDER 4 MONTHS AGO
* A taxi driver from New Delhi is found murdered in a hotel room on June 20
* The deceased and four others checked in on the evening of June 19
* The four are suspected to have decamped with victim's wallet, ATM card
* Police recover grainy CCTV footage, but faces cannot be ascertained
* Dog squad pressed into service but unsuccessful in tracing the footsteps
* The four accused, between the age of 20 and 30 years, still remain at large
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WHAT HAMPERED THE PROBE
* Lapses by hotel management in registering the names along with photo identities of all the guests
* Owner of the hotel did not take any photo identification of the other persons staying in the room
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PERFUMER'S MURDER:
KNIFE RECOVERED
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Virendra Kumar was found murdered in the hotel room where he and four others had checked in on the evening of June 19.
The incident came to light on the morning of June 20, when the hotel staff found the door of the room latched from outside and informed the owner. When the door was opened, the deceased’s body was lying on the bed. He was wearing a blood-stained yellow shirt and vest. His face was wrapped in a blue-colour bedsheet.
Owner of Sapna Hotel Suresh Laxman Chopdekar informed the police that a dead body had been found in room No 209 on the second floor of the hotel. Chopdekar, a former corporator in the city Corporation, is the complainant in the case.
It is suspected that the four accused decamped early in the morning with Kumar’s wallet including his ATM card and his mobile phone.
The police soon discovered that an amount of Rs 25,000 was withdrawn using Kumar's ATM card from an ATM machine at Vasco on June 20. However, this lead, unlike in the Monika Ghurde murder case, did not take the police any closer to nabbing the accused.
In the initial stages, the police recovered the CCTV footage from the hotel. However, the footage was grainy and the faces of the accused could not be ascertained.
The images were circulated to the police in the neighbouring States, Delhi Police as well as railway stations, bus stands and border check posts.
Two teams were constituted to investigate the case. Dog squad visited the scene of the offence but was unsuccessful in tracing the steps of the accused.
Post mortem report of Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim stated that the death was caused by violent asphyxia as a result of combined effect of manual and soft ligature smothering. Injuries were found on Kumar’s head and left hand.
Though the cause of death is known, the motive behind the murder has not been established and it is not known whether the offence was pre-planned.
The police suspected that the bedsheet was used to strangle Kumar. The scene of crime suggested a prima facie case of murder.
Further probe had revealed that the deceased and the accused had visited an offshore casino on the night of June 19.
With no leads being thrown up during the investigation conducted so far into the case, the police have also remained unsuccessful in linking the accused and the deceased. Whether the four accused travelled to Goa with the deceased or whether they met him in Goa remains unanswered.
Lapses on behalf of the hotel management in registering the names along with photo identities of all the guests who checked into the establishment has proved to be the biggest hurdle and has resulted in the investigation hitting a dead end.
The hotel register was attached by the police, which had Virendra Kumar registered as a tourist. The registration records, however, showed ‘Virendra Kumar Kaushik/Mohsin Khan’ and the probe is yet to locate the second person.
Kumar’s driver’s license was listed as a photo identity proof. The police used the document to contact his family.
"We are also finding it difficult to identify the four suspects as the room was booked in the name of the deceased and the owner of the hotel did not take any photo identification of the other persons staying in the room," said the police officer supervising the probe.
Panaji police were quick in filing a report before the North Goa deputy Collector informing of procedural lapses on behalf of the owner in registering the guests.
Since then, the case has come to a standstill.
The four accused, believed to be between the age of 20 and 30 years, remain at large.
