Youth arrested, says he avenged harassment meted out to him by deceased; big crowd gathers at Colva PS
MARGAO
The Colva police has cracked the Betalbatim murder case with the arrest of 21-year old Aman Gopal Kavitya, a native of Pune, who has been residing in a rented room at Colva since the last many years.
The police has recovered the gold ornaments, including three finger rings, a bracelet, cash of Rs 10,000, besides the mobile and the knife used to murder Baptista D’Costa on January 20 night. The police has said that the accused killed Baptista to avenge alleged harassment meted out to him by the deceased.
District Superintendent of Police, Arvind Gawas, told the media that Aman had planned the murder. He complimented his officers and staff for achieving a quick breakthrough in the case.
He said the murder was detected with the help of technology and after confronting the accused over several aspects pertaining to the case.
The accused is a rickshaw driver, while deceased Baptista was the owner of around 17 rent-a-bike motorcycles, two taxis, a Maruti Omni and a Swift car. “Baptista had two employees looking after his business. Initially, we had interrogated the employees, but later zeroed in on Aman with the help of technology,” he said.
SP Gawas informed that the police first traced the Colva restaurant from where the two beer bottles, Mansion House brandy, a water bottle and chilly chicken, found at the scene of murder, were purchased. “While Aman had told the police that he was asked by Baptista to get these items, interrogation of the restaurant waiter revealed that it was Aman who found out the beer brand of the deceased before making the purchase, raising suspicion on his role in the murder. Secondly, when Aman was confronted by the police to explain his whereabouts between 8 pm and 11 pm on Saturday night, he claimed that he was at Colva beach and had smoked a cigarette at a kiosk. Our suspicion only grew because the kiosk in question was shut on Saturday evening,” SP Gawas added.
He said the police finally zeroed in on the accused with the help of technology. Sources said the accused was caught on the CCTV camera on his way to the Betalbatim beach. “The accused has allegedly confessed that he had purchased a knife at a Colva shop and was waiting for the opportunity to murder Baptista. He knew that Baptista had Rs 10,000 on his person. He did not go with Baptista’s vehicle to the Betalbatim beach for the simple reason that he wanted to escape with his wife after committing the offence,” SP Gawas said.
He praised Colva PI Filomena Costa and his team, besides PIs Kapil Nayak, Ravi Desai and Sudesh Naik for assisting the police in the investigation.
