The murder of Margao based goldsmith Swapnil Walke has sent shockwaves across the Goan community, although, many have praised the quick action of the Goa Police teams in nabbing the accused.
After coming to light that the murder plot was hatched nearly six-months ago, it has now surfaced that the accused nabbed by the police have had previous cases against them.
Two accused – Omkar Patil and Edson Gonsalves – were nabbed by the Crime Branch soon on the intervening night after the murder, while the third accused – Mustafa Sheikh, accused of firing the gun shot and later stabbing the goldsmith – surrendered before the Margao police the next day, after being closely followed by sleuths.
The fourth accused in the case, Evander Rodrigues was arrested recently.
The case, which is now being investigated by the Crime Branch of Goa Police, has brought to light that the murder was a well-planned plot by the accused, and theft was not the only motive of the crime.
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The investigating agency will be probing the case from all angles; however, it has been reported that a 1.5 crore gold robbery case, back in February in Anjuna area, will be looked into, to see if any links are there with this case.
Incidentally, a 340 gms gold block, amounting to Rs 17 lakh, stolen from outside the state is also being looked 1into by the police.
The accused, Omkar Patil, was reportedly previously also booked by the Anjuna police in connection with a gold theft case, in which, Evander Rodrigues also happens to find his name.
Omkar Patil also has several robbery cases against him. He further even attempted to escape from a lock-up in June 2014 and was re-arrested later.
Sheikh, originally from Margao was also charged in the double murder case at Old Goa, but was convicted as per reports under section 304 (culpable homicide to murder). He was discharged after serving a three-year prison term.
You may also read: A City Left in Shock After The Murder of A Goldsmith Swapnil Walke
Of the four arrested, three accused are from Santa Cruz area, while Mustafa Sheikh, originally hailing from Margao, also had a place in Santa Cruz.
According to reports, the two – Omkar and Evander – who were under the watch of the Anjuna police for the theft case there, were residing in Margao for the previous two months.
Links are being tried to established if the accused were trying to trade the stollen gold with goldsmiths from the commercial town city, and if the murder of Walke was born out of enmity due to refusal of any transactions.
According to the police, all three accused from Santa Cruz area have criminal background. Investigating officials will also be looking into any connections with the Santa Cruz gang crime which occurred in June this year where one member of a rival gang was killed.
