19-yr-old hotel staff held for colleague’s murder in Arpora

Mapusa: A day after a member of a gang was killed following the firing of multiple gunshots at St Cruz, Anjuna police Sunday arrested a teenager for brutally murdering his colleague while he was asleep at a cafeteria area of a hotel in Arpora.

Police said the deceased and victim had a quarrel, which resulted in the murder.

The deceased has been identified as Vishwanath Gawas, 28, a resident of Pikuli in Dodamarg and working at a hotel in Arpora as a supervisor, while the accused is Ram Bharose Nishad, 19, a native of Uttar Pradesh and working as a housekeeping staff at the same hotel.

According to police, the incident occurred during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday between 11 pm and 1 am. Following receipt of information, Anjuna police team comprising of PI Suraj Gawas, PSIs Mahesh Kerkar, Amir Taral and others rushed to the spot and conducted a panchanama after which the deceased’s body was shifted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital at Bambolim.

In this connection, the Anjuna police has registered an offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and arrested Nishad.

Police said five staff members resided in the hotel, which has been closed presently in view of the lockdown. They said on Saturday, a birthday party was organised at the cafeteria area where the deceased, accused, a security guard Vijay Yadav, supervisor Sumit Bahuguna and chief Ashok Negi were present. Police said a petty quarrel occurred between the deceased and the accused and the accused threatened the deceased. Later, the accused went to his room, while others continued enjoying the party.

Police said after the party ended, all left for their rooms while the deceased slept in the cafeteria. Later, as the security guard was patrolling the cafeteria, he noticed the deceased in a pool of blood and alerted the other staff. The 108 ambulance service was also called in and its staff confirmed that Gawas had died. Accordingly, police was informed about the incident.

During police investigation, it was noticed that all the staff members were present at the spot except the accused which raised suspicion and accordingly police took the accused into custody.

Police said the accused later that night attacked the deceased with a sharp weapon, which he procured from the kitchen of the hotel. Police said the deceased was stabbed on the chest, stomach and hand which led to his death. Anjuna police is further investigating the case.