Goa: One shot dead as gang attacks house in Santa Cruz, 7 arrested

PANAJI: One person was shot dead and several cars damaged in a shootout at Santa Cruz in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Goa police said that a gang went to attack a person they had a previous rivalry with, but a member of the group itself succumbed to injuries after being shot in the chest.
Goa police said that the incident, which was captured on CCTV cameras, involved around 10 masked men.North Goa SP Utkrisht Prasoon said that seven people have already been arrested, and two minors have been lodged at Apna Ghar. He said that the attack was a planned one. The deceased person has been identified as Sonu Yadav, resident of Camrabhat, and native of Uttar Pradesh.
Prasoon said that Police Control Room received a call early on Saturday morning, regarding an attack at a house near St Thomas chapel in Santa Cruz. Subsequently, a wireless message was received about person dead with a gunshot above the abdomen.
Police, after probing the nature of the case, said that some unknown persons had earlier attacked the house of one Imran Bepari in Santa Cruz, in the course of which some bullets had been fired. Prasoon said that Bepari had an argument a week ago with the group, which on Saturday led the attack on his house.
Prasoon said that a total of nine persons, including two juveniles, were apprehended. Those arrested are Marcelino Dias of Curca, Ronny D’Souza of St Inez, Samuel D’Souza of St Inez, David Araujo of Santa Cruz, Minguel Araujo of Santa Cruz, Francis Nadal of Santa Cruz, and David D’Souza of Camrabhat. A country-made revolver was recovered from Marcelino Dias. Two separate offences were registered at Old Goa police station, and a team from Forensic Science Laboratory, Verna, was taken to the crime scene.
“The facts and circumstances of the case have so far revealed that the deceased was with the above-mentioned (arrested) persons who attacked the house in Santa Cruz, but during the incident, received a gunshot injury to which he later succumbed,” Prasoon said.
Meanwhile, IGP Jaspal Singh has sanctioned a reward of Rs 25,000 to the investigation team for their efforts.