PANAJI
In a major setback to accused Zenito Cardozo, the Special Court at Merces on Saturday rejected his bail application in the attempted murder case involving activist Rama Kankonkar.
The order came after a marathon two-day hearing on Friday and Saturday, following which Judge Irshad Agha reserved the verdict for 4:30 pm. The Court, while rejecting the bail plea, extended the judicial custody of all eight accused, including Cardozo, till October 31.
During the hearing, the public prosecutor dismissed the defence’s claim that there was no enmity between Cardozo and Kankonkar, arguing that the accused had harboured a grudge over the activist’s social media posts. “Kankonkar may not have known what was going on in Cardozo’s mind, but Cardozo was clearly conspiring against him,” the prosecutor submitted.
Cardozo’s counsel, however, maintained that there was no personal animosity between the two. On Friday, the defence had argued that Cardozo had not sought anticipatory bail because he believed the truth would emerge from Kankonkar’s statement. “We waited for Kankonkar’s statement to see if he linked Cardozo to the case, but he didn’t,” defence lawyer Advocate Nazareth told the Court.
Opposing the plea, Advocate Shane Gomes, representing Kankonkar, who had filed an intervention petition, alleged that Cardozo had tampered with electronic evidence. “If Cardozo was innocent, why did he delete his call records? This case doesn’t rest solely on Kankonkar’s statement. Cardozo’s name has surfaced repeatedly during interrogation,” Gomes contended.
