PORVORIM
In an incident which has sparked outrage, a man from Salvador do Mundo who was set ablaze at Torda on Wednesday afternoon died of injuries at the Goa Medical College Hospital at Bambolim on Thursday morning.
Porvorim police has registered a case of murder against two unknown persons.
According to reports, Vilas Mather was returning from Saloi after closing his shop in the panchayat building, when two masked persons on a motorcycle stopped his car at Torda.
As Mather lowered the window of his car, they poured petrol on him and set him ablaze, before fleeing from the scene.
Mather, however, managed to get out of the car and started screaming for help. Some people extinguished the fire and rushed him to GMC, where he succumbed on Thursday morning.
While the motive of the crime is unclear, sources said Mather and 15 other residents of a building had filed a complaint with the Salvador do Mundo panchayat a fortnight ago, regarding an encroachment by the builder.
Acting on the complaint, the Salvador do Mundo panchayat fixed an inspection of the encroachment on October 20.
The incident which occurred on a busy road in Torda in broad daylight has outraged people and Porvorim police is yet to track the killers.
Expressing shock over the incident, Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte met SP (North) Utkrist Prasoon on Thursday afternoon along with Salvador do Mundo Sarpanch Sandeep Salgaonkar, Penha de Franca Sarpanch Swapnil Chodankar and ZP Gupesh Naik and impressed upon Prasoon to nab the culprits at the earliest.
Later speaking to reporters, Khaunte said he had told the SP that police should focus all attention on the heinous crime and nab the culprits as early as possible to ensure that such crimes are not repeated.
“The SP mentioned to me that investigations are on and police would try and arrest the culprits at the earliest,” said Khaunte.
Salvador do Mundo Sarpanch Sandeep Salgaonkar described Mather as a pleasant person who owned a shop in the panchayat building.
“Mather had filed a complaint with the panchayat against a builder regarding encroachment and the panchayat has fixed an inspection on October 20. I am shocked to hear about the incident and hope that Porvorim Police will arrest the culprits as early as possible,” said Salgaonkar.
