Although the motive is not conclusively established, the audacity of the perpetrators to video-film the incident in Fatorda where Vijay Kulal was pinned down and mercilessly beaten, and then put it out on social media is a worrying sign for the police.
"It clearly is a message to the associates of the victim: don't mess with us," said a senior police officer, who is however not connected with the investigation of the case.
The police, on the record, deny the existence of organised crime or criminal gangs. Yet, whenever brazen criminal incidents like the one at Fatorda happen, there is one name that always props up -- Zenito Cardozo.
Sources said, Vijay Kulal, has links to Zenito, who ironically was only recently (three weeks ago) handed a 'clean chit' by North Goa Collector, Mamu Hage, IAS.
Hage gave the clean chit to Zenito in a proceeding initiated in her jurisdiction to declare him a 'tadipaar' (fugitive).
Zenito is a history-sheeter and first gained eyeballs back in 2010 when he single-handedly outfought the Merces-based 'Miranda' group at the Siridao beach. For Zenito, then a teenager, his act was one for 'honour' as the Miranda gang had misbehaved with his sister that afternoon. The hand-to-hand and knife fight ended up in a death but Zenito went scot-free after the trial.
Police have a dossier on his activities said to be spread deep in the underbelly of Goa's tourism trade in Candolim-Calangute-Baga and up North right up to Arambol and Morjim. He is also active in the murky real estate arena and land deals.
Past cases against him include recruiting juveniles from Apna Ghar to conduct robberies including bike-lifting, and his extortion bid against a builder in his Santa Cruz neighbourhood who happened to be the grandson of Goa's iconic first Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar and son of the second chief minister Sashikala Kakodkar - Sameer Kakodkar. The then government incarcerated Zenito under the National Security Act at the historic Aguada Jail for a brief few months.
He is also known to have links to top politicians, the most prominent of which is Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte who at one point in the past took him around as his personal security.
Until recently, the 'Bang Bang' gang is said to be lorded over by Zenito, a striking feature of which is to net in delinquent juveniles as recruits and foot soldiers.
For now, the police are not ruling out the possibility of Zenito and his associates seeking to spread their wings down South. The Fatorda incident, a top police officer said, will be investigated with a fine-tooth comb to establish links if any.
