MAN OF THE
MOMENT
>> Police Constable Nagendra Parit
HIS FEAT
>> Intelligent moves in nabbing accused
RECOGNITION
Cash award of Rs 5000 announced
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CANACONA: Getting an accused fleeing from a murder to accept a ride on a motorcycle driven by a policeman may be the stuff of film and fiction, but a Canacona police constable did just that and his sheer ingenuity and tact succeeded in trapping the murder accused barely hours after the crime.
So impressed was SP (South) Arvind Gawas with Police Constable Nagendra Parit's presence of mind and ingenious method of taking the murder accused into police custody from the railway station at Canacona, that SP Gawas announced a cash award of Rs 5,000 to PC Parit.
THE CRIME
Ranjit Hari Singh, a 33-year-old waiter from Himachal Pradesh, was allegedly murdered by his co-worker, Nima Krishna Tamang of Nepal, behind a beach restaurant at Palolem in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Canacona PSI Prashal Dessai said a complaint had been filed by the owner of Havana Cuba Restaurant stating that some staff residing behind the restaurant had woken up to the sounds of a man shouting in pain at about 2.45 am.
The staff then ran into the direction of the man's screams and found Singh badly injured, bleeding profusely and reeling in pain.
Singh claimed he had been struck with some object by Tamang, who was nowhere to be seen.
The victim was then rushed to the Canacona Community Health Centre (CHC), but was referred to the Hospicio Hospital at Margao, where he was declared dead on arrival. Canacona police was then alerted of the death.
THE DETECTION
Police managed to get a photo of the accused and by 7 am, it was circulated at all police stations, especially coastal and border police stations, and the photo was also circulated on police WhatsApp groups.
A Canacona police team quickly activated surveillance at all exit points, including the Canacona KRC station, Kadamba bus stand and Polem check post.
Police Constable Nagendra Parit, who incidentally hails from Tembewaddo near Palolem, was in plainclothes and alone at the Canacona KRC station, when he noticed a young man resembling the photo of the accused on his mobile phone.
PC Parit noticed a stud pierced below his lip and observed the accused for some time. Parit noticed that the youth had missed the train and began enquiring about the timing of next train, before proceeding out of the railway station.
In a bid to avoid losing him, PC Parit casually walked towards Tamang and politely asked him if he could take him on his motorcycle as he too was leaving the railway station.
An unsuspecting Tamang said he wanted to go to the bus stand and PC Parit agreed to take him to there for Rs 20.
Tamang then said he did not have the money and preferred to walk to the bus stand, when PC Parit quickly revised his offer and agreed to drop him to the nearby bus stand for free as he said he was travelling in the same direction.
Mindfully aware he could not trap Tamag alone, PC Parit was concerned that Tamang could overpower him and flee from the site.
Tamang then accepted the motorcycle ride driven by the plainclothes policeman towards the bus stand.
When PC Parit noticed fellow police constable in plainclothes at the bus stand, he stopped the bike near the police constable and both suddenly pounced on Tamang, catching him off guard at about 8 am. The accused was then taken in a police jeep to the police station.
THE AWARD
Impressed at the tactics used by the police constable, SP Arvind Gawas, who along with DySP Uttam Raut Desai was supervising the murder investigation, immediately announced a cash award of Rs 5000 to PC Parit.
Canacona police recovered cash of Rs 12,000, allegedly belonging to the victim and a mobile phone also belonging to victim from the accused possession.
SP (South) Arvind Gawas, Quepem DySP Uttam Raut Desai, a team of police sniffer dogs and a forensic team reached Canacona and collected finger prints and other evidence from the crime site.
It is also learnt that the while accused was employed only 7-8 days ago, the victim was an old hand at the Palolem beach restaurant for some years.
Police later arrested the accused under Section 302 IPC and since the police recovered cash and other belongings allegedly belonging to the victim, they are likely to add an offence under Section 394 IPC.
Canacona PSI Prashal Desai is investigating the case under the supervision of Canacona PI Rajendra Prabhudessai.
