CALANGUTE: Superintendent of Police (North), Akshat Kaushal on Wednesday said it's still early in the investigation to say anything with certainty about the motive behind the murder of Candolim resident Arnaldo Soares.
On Wednesday, Arvind Raju Pawar, who was arrested by Karnataka police on Tuesday, for allegedly committing the murder of Soares, was remanded in police custody for one day by the JMFC, Mapusa.
Police sought his custody to ascertain the motive behind the murder and to find out if he had any accomplice.
“At this stage we cannot say for sure whether some money was robbed or there were other reasons. We’ve taken him into custody and we will be questioning him. We’re looking at all angles,” Kaushal told reporters at Calangute Police Station, on Wednesday.
“So far we have not found role of others, but we have called some people for questioning,” Kaushal said.
Pawar, 20, who was nabbed in Karnataka, was brought to Goa late Tuesday night.
Kaushal said Pawar was identified from video grab from the ‘dash cam’ mounted in the car belonging to Soares. After committing the murder, Pawar drove the car to the helipad at Sinquerim and left it there. From there he walked to Calangute, police said based on CCTV footage. Later on Sunday morning, he went to Mapusa by passenger bus. From there he travelled to Karnataka by bus.
The special police team formed to investigate the murder then traced the accused in Karnataka using his call detail record. They then informed Karnataka Police and Pawar was apprehended at Jeratagi village by staff of Nelogi Police Station, Kalaburagi.
A team of Calangute police then travelled to Karnataka to arrest the suspect and returned to Goa late Tuesday.
According to police, Pawar was residing in Candolim, and worked as a casual labourer in the Candolim area and used to do odd jobs for the murder victim Arnaldo Soares.
Early Sunday morning, at around 2 am, he climbed on to the roof of Soares’ residence at Orda, Candolim, took out some tiles and descended into the house using a rope. He then attacked Soares with a sharp weapon inflicting injuries on his face, neck and back, killing him on the spot.
“The accused knew Soares for two years as he had been doing some work for him. He was aware of the layout of the house, he knew where his bed was. Some sharp weapon was used in the crime. During interrogation we will question him where the weapon has been disposed,” Kaushal said.
He said they are awaiting an NOC from the Canadian High Commission to conduct the post-mortem as Soares was a Canadian citizen.
Soares had been a resident of Canada with an OCI card. He was a bachelor. He was said to be embroiled in legal disputes over property with his family members.
Following his remand, Pawar was taken to the GMC, Bambolim for a medical checkup. Further investigations are on.