The Tourism minister complained of chest pain en route to jail; his bail application has been rejected by the High Court and Supreme Court
The Tourism minister complained of chest pain en route to jail; his bail application has been rejected by the High Court and Supreme Court
The noose around former Goa Tourism Minister and NCP MLA Francisco Mickky Pacheco has been tightened, with the Goa police charging him under Sec 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code.
Until yesterday, the NCP Minister was on the run for his alleged role in the murder and death of 28 year-old Nadia Torrado, his paramour. Pacheco was charged under section 306 (for abetting suicide), but with Goa police adding section 304 and 201, the former minister will find it difficult to jump bail.
The offence has become more serious, with the High Court and Supreme Court rejecting his bail application, after finding sufficient prima facie evidence gathered by the Goa crime branch. Lyndon Monterio, Pacheco's aide in the case, was granted anticipatory bail by the Supreme Court. On Saturday, Pacheco surrendered before the Margao District and Sessions Judge U B Bakre, after evading arrest by remaining elusive for nearly a month, after failing to get legal recourse.u00a0 However, instead of sending him to police custody, the court sent him to judicial custody in Margao Central Jail, where he will be lodged until Monday.
Twist in the case Pacheco complained of chest pain while he was being taken into custody and was taken for a medical examination en route to jail. At Hospicio Hospital in Margao, he was admitted to the ICU.
Investigating police officer, Sunita Sawant said, "We want to seek his custodial interrogation to get answers to many questions -- the reason for torturing and murdering Torrado, the nature of poison consumed by the deceased, 11 injuries found on the body etc."
When contacted, Pacheco's wife Viola Fernandes, said, "I do not want to comment on the case."
| The story so far |
Tarrado allegedly consumed poison on May 15 and was admitted to a hospital in Goa by Pacheco. As her condition deteriorated, he airlifted her to Jupiter Hospital in Mumbai.
As the Mumbai hospital detected liver failure, Pacheco took her to Apollo Hospital in Chennai for a liver transplant. But Tarrado failed to recover and passed away. Police claim that a post-mortem conducted in Chennai soon after Torrado's death revealed 14 bruise marks on her body. Similar injury marks were confirmed in the second autopsy performed by forensic doctors in Goa. |
