n All caught at different locations -- Karmali station, KTC bus stand & Margao rail STATION n ONE WAS A Teacher, ANOTHER A student n IGP says primary motive was to extort money
the goan I network
MARGAO
In a swift action, the Goa police achieved a breakthrough in the shocking rape of 20-year old girl from Salcete at the Sunset beach, Betalbatim, after the special police team arrested the three assailants, all tourists from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, late Friday night.
The three accused, in their mid-20s, includes Sanju Dhananjay, a school teacher, Ram, a ninth Std student, who was earlier involved in a theft case and Ishwar Makwana, a casual worker, against whom a case of rape and theft stands registered in his home state. One of the accused was nabbed from the Karmali railway station around Friday noon, while the second assailant was arrested from the KTC bus stand on late Friday night. The third accused was arrested at the Margao railway station as he made an abortive bid to flee the state.
Briefing the media, IGP Jaspal Singh said the three accused persons had come down to Goa on May 23 via Mumbai by travelling in a general compartment train. “Our investigations revealed that they were in need of money. The trio had checked in a hotel at Colva after their arrival. Since they were in need of money, they were looking for their prey. They are believed to have stolen a koita from a fisherman’s canoe and were looking for a prey around the Sunset beach after a swim. It so happened that victim girl and her lover were around the beach at the wrong time when the accused were looking for their prey. It could have happened to any other victim since the accused wanted money”, IGP Singh said.
“As per the statement of the victim girl, all the three assailants had sexually assaulted her. The assailants later recorded the video of the lovers to blackmail the victims to cough up money”, he added.
When the media sought to know how the accused persons landed on the isolated Sunset beach when the beach is isolated, bereft of any transport facility, the IGP said the three had checked in a hotel at Colva and were looking for a prey. Asked to shed light on the initial reports that one of the accused had spoken in Konkani with the victims, IGP Singh said they must have just spoken a word or two in Konkani. “Of the trio, the teacher Sanju had come down to Goa many times. Accused Ishwar has visited the state for the second time. May be they had picked up a word or two in the local language”, he added.
Saying the Goa police is collecting criminal records of the three accused from Indore, IGP Singh said accused Ishwar had a case of theft, besides rape after he had eloped with the victim girl, whom he later married.
The rape of the 20-year old victim girl from Salcete had sent shockwaves across the state after the accused had sexually assaulted her after beating up her 22-year old boyfriend when they had gone to the Sunset beach for an evening walk.
