Goa: Man, 20, arrested in connection with Canadian national’s murder
Police said that the deceased identified as Arnaldo Soares was found in a pool of blood at his ancestral home in Goa on Sunday afternoon
Panaji: The Goa Police claimed to have arrested a 20-year-old handyman in connection with the alleged murder of a Goan-origin Canadian national.
Police said that the deceased identified as Arnaldo Soares was found in a pool of blood at his ancestral home in Goa on Sunday afternoon. Soares, 68, who lived alone, was found dead with visible head injuries after neighbours knocked on his door on Sunday morning and he failed to respond, prompting them to call the police.
“We have arrested one Arjun Raju Pawar, 20, alias Parshu and registered a case under section 332b (breaking in), 309 (robbery) and 103 (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,” North Goa superintendent of police Akshat Kaushal, said.
Police said that Pawar, a resident of Goa, was arrested from the Kalaburagi district in north Karnataka on Tuesday, where he had fled after allegedly committing the murder.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the primary motive of the murder appeared to be robbery, said police, adding that they found evidence at the crime scene suggesting that the murder was premeditated.
“The primary motive behind the crime was robbery. But we are not ruling out that there could be other angles involved also. We have found clues from the scene that suggest that it may have been premeditated. At this stage it is premature to say anything with certainty,” Kaushal said.
Police said that Pawar fled the house in Soares’ car after allegedly committing the murder and later abandoned the car at the helipad near Goa’s Fort Aguada heritage monument. “Interrogation on all these aspects is going on,” the SP added.
According to the police, Pawar was known to the victim and had undertaken jobs on Soares’ behalf as a handyman.
“He was aware of the geography of the place and the architecture of the house. He knew where the victim used to sleep. He was aware of where his bed was and what time he used to sleep. He knew the victim,” SP Kaushal said.
He added Pawar was produced before the magistrate on Wednesday after his arrest and has been remanded to one-day police custody.