PANAJI
Conspirator Arshad Khawaja, who was called the "mastermind" in the demolition of the Assagao house by Pooja Sharma, has confessed to committing the crime himself.
In his statement before the magistrate, Khawaja ruled out Sharma’s role in the case, a claim which the Special Investigation Team of Crime Branch (SIT-CB) said it would investigate.
"The main person who was arrested, Arshad Khawaja, made a statement before the magistrate under Section 164 CrPC, clearly admitting that he committed the offence and that the applicant (Sharma) had no role in it,” Sharma’s lawyer Adv Surendra Desai said.
The lawyer also mentioned that Pradeep Agarwadekar and his wife, the complainant in the case, applied to withdraw their complaint. “However, due to political pressure, the investigating agency is unnecessarily trying to arrest Sharma,” Desai alleged after his previous charge that some politicians want to protect "mastermind" Khawaja.
Additional Public Prosecutor Pravin Faldessai questioned the circumstances surrounding Khawaja’s admission of guilt, stating it needs to be probed, particularly if he was pressurised by Sharma.
"Sharma, being the owner of the property in question, is the only person who could have hatched the conspiracy to evict Pradeep and his family. There is strong prima facie suspicion about the applicant’s involvement in the offence," Faldessai said.
Khawaja, who was arrested and subsequently bailed, had shown the property to Pooja Sharma after which she purchased the property from Chrys Pinto and a sale deed was executed between them. As per the allegation by suspended PI Prashal Desai, Khawaja informed him that he was proceeding with the demolition "as per the instructions from the top office" on June 22. Khawaja boasted of his contacts with top officials.
