PANAJI: The Juvenile Justice Board has rejected permission to subject the minor boy who, who along with another friend had accompanied Fr Bismarque Dias during his last moments.
The decision puts to rest the efforts of the Crime Branch to subject both the boys to polygraph test. The Crime Branch has already secured the permission of the Judicial Magistrate to conduct a lie detector test on the older of the two boys - Darren Vaz. Sources say the polygraph test will now be conducted on Vaz alone.
Vaz along with another minor boy, 17, from the same village were the last to be seen with Bismarque Dias on the night he went missing.
The body of Bismarque, a priest-turned-activist, was found 24 hours later floating in the water at Cupa in St Estevao on November 7.
The incident sparked an outrage across the State.
The JJB is presided over by Judge Ashley Noronha, who is also the Panaji JMFC which has granted permission to subject Vaz to a lie detector test.
Last month, the Goa police had transferred the case of Bismarque Dias' death to the Crime Branch on the directions of Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar following sustained pressure from the civil society members. Both the boys have maintained the same story of the incidents that preceded Bismarque’s disappearance.
