Quepem death: Cops register case of murder

MARGAO: The mystery over the suspicious death of Sunil Naik, 23, whose body was found hanging from a tree, deepened further, with the Quepem police registering the case as murder. Police have arrested some six persons in the case charging them with plotting to murder the deceased.
Sunil's body was found hanging from a jackfruit tree Sunday morning, barely 200 m from his residence at Ghanemorod, Xeldem.The police had then registered the case as that of unnatural death.
The post mortem report has, however, attributed the death to asphyxia caused due to hanging. Police are of the opinion that even if it is assumed that Sunil committed suicide, circumstantial evidence suggests that the deceased may have been driven to end his life following criminal intimidations.
"The prime accused in the case, one Vishal Naik, has admitted to having threatened to kill Sunil, following an altercation between the two. Besides, the deceased Sunil's mother, Lilawati, has, in her statement to the police, has suspected that her son may have been murdered as his body was found just a day after he received such threats from the accused," Dy SP Rohidas Patre told reporters.
Police sources informed that the deceased Sunil was allegedly having an illicit relationship with the wife of Vishal, the prime accused in the case. On Saturday, Vishal allegedly caught Sunil and his wife in a compromising position, following which things took a turn for the worse.
The police revealed the names of those arrested as Vishal Naik, Dhiraj Naik, Brijesh Naik, Dayesh Naik, all from Xeldem, Curchorem and surrouding areas, and Sanket Surve and Lalit Madhav, from Mumbai, who are the relatives of some of the accused. They have been charged under various sections of the IPC for committing murder, abetting to suicide, criminal intimidation etc.
Interestingly, over 150 Xeldem residents laid siege to the Quepem police station for close to two hours late Monday evening, demanding justice to Sunil's family.
Quepem PI Sudesh Narvekar is conducting further investigations under the supervision of Dy SP Rohidas Patre.