A Goan businessman and his employee were allegedly found murdered, with their throats slit open, in a rented room in North Goa’s Saligao on Thursday afternoon, said police.
One suspect, another employee of the businessman, is absconding, with multiple police teams dispatched to track him down. The motive for the murders is yet to be ascertained, police said.
The deceased businessman was Richard D’Mello, a resident of Guirim in North Goa, and the brother of the All India Trinamool Congress’s national spokesperson and Goa media coordinator Trajano D’Mello. He ran a shop selling and repairing electronics, speakers and music systems.
His employee, who was also murdered, was identified as Abhishek Gupta from Indore.
According to police, the murders are believed to have been committed sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning. The bodies were found in a room that Richard had rented from his friend, George, where he was housing two of his employees — Abhishek Gupta and the one who is absconding.
The worker who is absconding was first put up in the room five days ago, police said. Richard was paying a rent of Rs 6,000 a month and an advance of Rs 1,000 for the room, which has an attached kitchen and is in George’s house. On Wednesday, Richard brought another worker, Gupta, and put him also up in the same room.
“Richard told [the absconding worker] that Gupta had just arrived from the railway station and to accommodate him. The trio discussed the living arrangement, which seemed to upset the accused,” said a police officer.
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According to the police complaint filed by the house owner, George, Richard went back home after leaving Gupta in the room. At around 4 am, George woke up and went to a beach to purchase fish, after which he returned, took a nap, and later woke up at 11.30 am.
When he woke up, he sought to collect the remaining rent from Richard, but Richard’s phone was switched off. When George went to the back of his house to wash his face, he noticed that the rented room was locked. He tried calling one of the workers, but his phone was not reachable. So he peeked from a gap in the door and the window and noticed some bloodstains. He then informed the police around 2 pm on Thursday.
A team from the fire brigade broke open the lock after which police found two bodies in the room. The faces of the bodies were covered with a blanket and blood was splattered across two beds.
Police said they suspect that at some point during the night, the accused worker, who has been living in the room for five days, had an altercation with the worker who arrived on Wednesday and hit him with a pressure cooker and slit his throat with a kitchen knife. Police believe Richard came to visit the two workers at some point on Thursday morning. “It appears that when Richard arrived at the room, the accused worker slit his throat with the same knife and escaped in a vehicle. It is possible that the accused asked Richard to come to the room, so he could get away in Richard’s vehicle and leave no witness behind,” said the police officer.
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Police have recovered CCTV footage of the suspect at a railway station in Goa at 10.20 am. “This suggests that the murders took place before 9 am,” said the police officer. Police said the stabbing injuries on the bodies suggest that the accused has a criminal record. A case of murder has been registered, while the motive is yet to be established.
North Goa SP Rahul Gupta said, “Police have leads on which they are working. The investigation is going on with many teams working simultaneously.”
TMC’s Trajano D’Mello said, “I am shocked to hear the news. We have to wait for the investigation to be complete to understand what transpired or what the motive is.”
