PANAJI
In a late night joint operation involving the Goa and Mumbai Police, a notorious and habitual criminal of Mumbai Vikrant Deshmukh alias Vicky was nabbed near a casino in Panaji.
Speaking to reporters at Panaji, on Sunday, North Goa SP Shobit Saxena informed that they received specific inputs from Navi Mumbai police based on which several traps were set up around the Panaji police station area, specially near the casinos.
“From the information and the traps setup, we were able to identify the accused. When we tried to arrest him, he tried to run but was apprehended by a staff after a short chase. A live firearm was also found in his possession with five live rounds and it was seized,” Saxena stated adding the accused has been nabbed after being on the run for four years.
“It is after four years that the accused has been arrested. He is wanted in a MCOCA case in Mumbai as well as a case of murder. He has 33 cases registered against him and he was in jail for 10 years and further investigations are in progress”, he said.
He also said, “upon preliminary interrogation, it has been found that he was in Goa for a short stay for recreation. The accused admitted that he was in Goa only for recreational purpose but we are going to investigate deeper to ascertain whether he was involved in any sort of conspiracy in Goa to ensure that no crime linked to this criminal in the State goes undetected,” Saxena added.
“He was staying in Calangute and yesterday evening he had come to visit a casino in Panaji. It is suspected that he had one more associate. We are interrogating him to identify the associate so that we can apprehend him. The Mumbai Police team, led by senior PI of Navi Mumbai Crime Branch Bhonsle, came last night and assisted in the operation,” he informed adding that a case has been registered under Arms Act against the accused at the Panaji police station.
The SP heaped praises on Goa Police, particularly the Panaji PI for the outstanding effort in nabbing the accused.
“It was an excellent preventive action by Goa Police. Since the past few months, we are carrying out intensive general patrolling in North Goa wherein every Saturday the police officers carry out thorough checks of all criminals of North Goa. It was during one of these drives that we received this information which helped prevent crime in Goa,” Saxena informed and said that the Goa Police will ensure that there is no disturbance to peace and law and order in North Goa.
