It was a murder most foul. Passed off as death by asthma, thereis mounting evidence, a lot of it unearthed by The Goan itself, that the PI ofAnjuna police Vishwas Karpe colluded with the murder accused, suppressed clearevidence and sought to pass of the death as asthma.
While this was suspected last week, The Goan has far too muchcircumstantial and documentary evidence to virtually conclude that yes, theAnjuna police is protecting a killer.
Their allies, increasingly appear to be a controversialdoctor Dr Jawahar Henriques whose name crops up during many investigations intomysterious deaths, especially drug over doses and Dr Aurita Madeira, whohurriedly certified death due to asthma and then went to the police station totake her statement back and destroy it, after the post mortem report certifiedthat that death occurred due to an anti-mortem gunshot.
We reconstruct the full story, parts of which have beenreported, for clarity on the sequence of events because evidences of the policecover up lie in these sequences.
On September 24, Time: Between 1.30 and 2 pm: Rita Almeida was found lying in the hall of her houseat Mazal-wado by her neighbor Savia. Savia noticed that Rita had blood oozingout of her nose and mouth. Minutes later, the accused Ubaldo Fernandes, Rita’s livein partner, came with two police personnel. The 108 Ambulance that arrivedthereaft er declared Rita dead and suggested that a doctor be called. Whathappened thereafter turns murky. The police not only declared that Rita died ofan asthmatic attack but also remained holed in inside with the accused Ubaldoas anxious neighbours waited outside. The FIR, though was registered a full 24 hourslater and its states that the Anjuna police received information about themurder on September 25 at 8 pm. This is a clear unadulterated lie as the eventsabove prove.
Who were the two cops and what transpired between them andUbaldo is not known. What however is known from police records is that a teamled by PSI Vidhesh Pilgaonkar, one Lady Constable and two Constables werepresent on the occasion. The neighbours don’t remember seeing them at thattime. Anjuna PI Vishwesh Karpe had told The Goan at 3:30 pm on the same daythat this was death “by asthma attack” but registered the death as unnatural.
The shady cover up continued as Police officials personallyintervened to call Anjuna’s controversial Dr. Jawahar Henriques to embalm thebody. The police did not even question the accused’s hurry of embalming thebody and conducting funeral rights when the next of the deceased’s kin, herbrother Caetano was out of town. Alert neighbours who thwarted the plans of DrHenriques to embalm the body.
Interestingly, Dr Henriques told The Goan that he did notsee any blood on Rita’s body. Beating a hasty retreat, Dr Henriques crossedRita’s personal physician Dr Aurita Madeira. While Dr Henriques, customary toany doctor, did not make any observation or informal handover of charge, DrMadeira wrote out a report stating that Rita was being treated for asthma. Twodoctors and the Anjuna Police pieced together the death by Asthma theory forpublic consumption.
It took the police 30 hours and a post mortem report by Goa MedicalCollege to get convinced that what Savia and even the undertaker saw “ bloodoozing out of Rita’s mouth and nose “ was caused by gunshot wounds and notasthmatic attack. Dr Madeira has since then withdrawn her report from thepolice, Dr Henriques maintains he never saw anything amiss and Anjuna Policehas converted an unnatural death into a murder. In one day, the Goa Policeturned its’ own theory on its head. PI Karpe now told The Goan that this was amurder and the accused Ubaldo was being arrested. Did he have a choice with aclear post mortem report nailing his attempts to choke the investigation withhis asthma death theory?
But the investigation is not that open and shut. It raisesserious questions. How did police personnel, who were amongst the first toarrive at the scene, including PI Karpe and even DySP Serafi n Dias, not seethe blood stains? Why does the Anjuna Police have to get into the funeral ritesof a deceased whose family is out of town? Why does the Anjuna Police have tosummon Dr. Henriques, a private doctor, every time, when the government run PrimaryHealth Centre in Siolim and Asilo District Hospital in Mapusa are nearby? Theseare questions that Goa Police has to answer.
