MARGAO
Mystery shrouds the sensational murder of Kanhaiyakumar Mondal, a native of Bihar, as police investigations seem to have hit a dead end, with the men in uniform so far failing to unravel the circumstances behind the 32-year-old labourer’s death, which was initially registered as a hit-and-run case by the Maina Curtorim police in July last year.
Three months after the police registered a case of murder in relation to Mondal’s death, a host of questions still remain unanswered – why was the labourer killed before he was hit by a truck on the Loutolim highway on the intervening night of June 25-26? Why did the Ponda police drop Mondal on the roadside in Loutolim, within the jurisdiction of the Maina Curtorim police? In whose custody was Mondal at the time of his death when he was dropped by the Ponda police in Loutolim? Would Mondal have faced death had the Ponda police not transported him from Ponda to Loutolim?
Inquiries have revealed that police investigations into the murder have hit a dead end. The truck driver arrested by the Maina Curtorim police, who was accused of running over Mondal’s body, is out on bail, but the key question remains unanswered – who stabbed Mondal to death and why before he was run over by a heavy vehicle?
The mystery behind the labourer’s death saw twists and turns when it became apparent that the Ponda police had transported Mondal from the police station to Loutolim, where he was dropped on the road. While the district police chief, SP Sunita Sawant, was quick to order the suspension of the three policemen for dereliction of duty, questions remain unanswered about what had prompted the Ponda police to transport Mondal from the Ponda police jurisdiction and drop him in the jurisdiction of the Maina Curtorim police station, where he was later found dead on the roadside.
The Kanhaiyakumar Mondal death case hit the headlines after his body was found lying on the roadside in Loutolim village on the intervening night of June 25-26. Initially, the Maina Curtorim police had registered the death as a hit-and-run case. A post-mortem examination of the body, however, revealed what was feared to be the worst: that it was a case of murder.
The autopsy findings revealed that the accident injuries on the labourer’s body were all post-mortem, indicating that Mondal had died from the cut marks on his throat, as well as stab wounds on his abdomen. Medico-legal sources insist that the deceased was run over by a vehicle only after he died from the stab wounds on his abdomen and throat.
When The Goan contacted Superintendent of Police, South, Sunita Sawant to shed light on the investigations into the Kanhaiyakumar Mondal murder case, she said investigations into the case are underway. She further stated that the truck driver, who was arrested by the police for running over the body of the deceased, has been released on bail. “Investigations into the murder are continuing. A departmental inquiry is also underway against the three Ponda policemen suspended for dropping Kanhaiyakumar Mondal at Loutolim for dereliction of duties,” she said.
Indeed, it has now been over three months since the native of Bihar was killed and dumped on the roadside at Loutolim. The same old questions have come back to haunt the Goa police – who stabbed Kanhaiyakumar Mondal to death, what was the motive behind the murder before he was run over by a vehicle, and what were the circumstances that led the Ponda police personnel to transport Mondal from Ponda and drop him at Loutolim?
