E-Paper
Court seeks response on plea for CBI probe in death of Finnish national in Goa
Felix Dahl’s body was found at Patnem beach in 2014. In April, HT reported that 245 foreigners had died in Goa in the last 12 years.
The Goa bench of Bombay high court on Thursday directed the state government and police to reply to a petition seeking a CBI investigation into the mysterious death of Finnish national Felix Dahl at Patnem beach in 2014.
The court gave the public prosecutor and Canacona police two weeks to reply to the petition.
The petition said a post-mortem report in Goa declared Dahl’s death was caused due to an accident, while a second autopsy in Finland stated the deceased had injuries likely caused due to impact of a sharp and heavy item, indicating the possibility of murder.
Dahl, 22, had visited Goa in October 2014. His body was found with injuries to the head at the beach under Canacona police limits in South Goa.
“We have evidence that it was not an accidental death but a murder. But the police continue to sit idle and have so far shown shoddy investigation,” said advocate Rajdeep Lahri of Singhania and Co which is representing Dahl’s mother, Minna Pirhonen, in the case.
The petition has sought transfer of the case from the police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and also setting up of a committee to investigate the deaths of foreigners in Goa.
In April, HT reported that 245 foreigners had died in Goa in the last 12 years. Most of the families of the foreigners who died in Goa applied for re-investigation of their deaths because they suspected foul play.
Shikha Sethia, an advocate of Dahl’s family, said, “We believe local police protect criminals because a pattern can be observed in almost all cases related to the death of foreign nationals. We wish to crack down on this with the establishment of guidelines and a commission.”
