PERNEM
A court has remanded the Russian national, Aleksei Leonov, to 14 days in police custody in connection with the murders of two female compatriots in separated incidents at Arambol and Morjim.
While Elena Vaneeva (37) was murdered in her rented room in Madhlowado-Morjim late Wednesday night, Elena Kasthanova (37) was killed at her rented room at Bamanbhati-Arambol on Thursday night. Both women were killed in a similar fashion.
The accused has confessed to have reportedly killed some other women as well, and police are in the process of verifying his claims.
A Mandrem police team took the accused to the locations where he claimed to have committed other murders, but he was unable to pinpoint the exact locations.
Incidentally, Leonov is reported to have confessed having murdering an Assamese woman at Arambol. The police had registered it as a natural death at the time and had handed over the body to the family in Assam. This disclosure is likely to give a new twist to the case. The accused also claimed to have committed a murder in Corgao-Pernem.
