PANAJI
In a major twist in the ongoing investigations into the case of the dastardly attack on social activist Rama Kankonkar, the police on Sunday evening arrested notorious gangster Zenito Cardozo,
North Goa Superintendent of Police Rahul Gupta, IPS, said Zenito was picked up from a hotel in Panaji and claimed that he is the "prime accused" in the Kankonkar case.
Zenito is a resident of St Agostinho Waddo of Santa Cruz village and is a known history-sheeter with involvement in past cases ranging from extortion to murder. He was even detained under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) in the past.
Gupta said, the involvement of Zenito was established based on evidence which emerged during the interrogation of the seven accused already arrested in the case.
The top police officer hinted that the attack on Kankonkar was executed at the instance of Zenito while admitting that the motive is yet to be conclusively established in the ongoing investigation.
“The motive is yet to be fully ascertained, but it appears there was previous enmity,” Gupta said while speaking to the media after Zenito's arrest in the case.
He added that the assault of Kankonkar could possibly be a "contract job".
Zenito's arrest on Sunday brings the total number of those behind bars for involvement in the Kankonkar case to eight.
The social activist was assaulted and lynched with metal cables by a gang of six persons in broad daylight on last Thursday. Graphic details of the dastardly attack were captured on CCTV and went viral on social media.
The incident triggered widespread public outrage and prompted a spontaneous agitation spearheaded by Opposition politicians, political parties and social activists which spilled on to the streets and paralysed central Panaji for several hours.
The police meanwhile continued its crackdown on criminal elements many of who are said to be linked to those directly involved in the assault of Kankonkar.
On Sunday, 12 more persons with criminal antecedents were arrested by Old Goa Police including two -- Satish Bharti (19) of Merces and Yeshwant Nippanikar (47) of Santa Cruz -- who are said to be linked to the accused already arrested in the Kankonkar case.
Both Bharti and Nippanikar are however not directly linked to the case.
Police said with the 12 arrests on Sunday a total of 23 persons, mostly hailing from Santa Cruz, Merces, Chimbel and Old Goa, have now been rounded up and arrested under the two preventive sections -- 126 and 170 -- of the BNSS Act.
