BJP responsible for delay in murder investigation: GFP

Panaji: While blaming the BJP government for the flip-flops in the investigation into the mysterious death of the 19-year-old woman whose body washed ashore on Calangute beach in August,

Goa Forward Party

(GFP) has demanded that police personnel involved in the investigation be held accountable.

GFP president and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai said that politicians, particularly from the BJP camp, should stop interfering in police investigations.

Several months after ruling out foul play into the death of 19-year-old, Calangute police registered it as a murder case.

The development comes days after Calangute PI Nolasco Raposo was suspended.

“Goa police have registered the death as a murder today. I had said in the assembly that even before investigations, the case was declared as a drowning death. Even the viscera was not preserved for future investigations. The police should be made accountable for this failure,” said Sardesai.

Failure to preserve the viscera for future investigations despite the uncertainty about the cause of death was sheer carelessness, said Sardesai.

The Nachinola resident was missing since the morning of August 12, and her body was found washed up on Calangute beach a day later.

On Saturday, the police registered the death as murder, several months after the family and the opposition insisted that the girl had been killed.

“After the opposition raised its voice against this, the police started investigating this case. Otherwise, this murder would never have come to fore,” Sardesai said.

“It was surprising to know that police had failed to preserve the viscera of the victim, which was very much needed to investigate thoroughly,” Sardesai said.