My life got disturbed after Alemao case: Costao

Panaji: Nearly 26 years after he shot to fame as the 'lone ranger' and a 'one-man army' who took on the might of the Alemaos in the gold smuggling case, Costao Fernandes today shuns the limelight. "I want to lead a low-profile life," 63-year-old Fernandes told TOI on Thursday from Mumbai, where he stays with his daughter.

"My life got disturbed after the incident," Fernandes, who visits Goa once in three months, said.

Fernandes admits to the sequence of events that led to the death of Alvernaz Alemao, but refutes that he disappeared. "I hid in a jungle for a day and next day, at night I went to the office to report the incident," Fernandes, who joined the customs in 1979 as a preventive officer in Goa, said.

Fernandes said he used to get threatening calls that he would be killed.

"I never got scared. We are born to die today or tomorrow... and when you do your duty, you should not get scared," Fernandes said.

In 1994, Fernandes moved to Mumbai and retired as the superintendent of customs in Mumbai in 2014. A black belt in karate, Fernandes now is a fitness trainer. "I am a fitness freak... I represent India at masters athletic championship," he said.

Fernandes said he did what he did as part of his duty. "We have to prevent smuggling and we are paid to stop smuggling. I was doing my job," he said.