A Goa police team arrived in Mumbai on Thursday in search of a man suspected to be behind the killing of four women, whose bodies were found around Panaji in the last three days.
The police have identified 26 men who are believed to have been in touch with one of the victims, 16-year-old Evita Rodrigues.
Data that has been retrieved from her mobile phone records revealed that the student had in the last three months received 299 calls.
“They [26 men] have been detained for questioning,” said R K Yadav, Goa’s deputy inspector general of police.
Other than the 26, the police have identified one person who had called her several times soon after she left home on the fateful day.
The police believe the suspect (his identity has been withheld so as not to hamper investigation) has fled to Mumbai.
One more person high on the suspects’ list is a local.
“The four women have been killed in a similar manner. We suspect those behind the killings are known to each other,” said a Goa police officer on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
Responding to some reports in the media that 10 people had been killed, the Goa police on Thursday cleared the mystery about the other six bodies.
{{/usCountry}}Responding to some reports in the media that 10 people had been killed, the Goa police on Thursday cleared the mystery about the other six bodies.
{{/usCountry}}A security guard, his wife and two kids — whose bodies were found in a canal near Panaji — “were killed after an altercation by a gang of petty thieves who were drunk,” Yadav said. Four persons have been arrested for this incident.
The other two bodies, of a woman and man, found floating in a river near Pernem, were of a couple who committed suicide.
The police suspect they killed themselves as their families were against them marrying.