PANAJI
Nearly two weeks after Gujarat businessman Bashudev Bhandari ‘vanished’ after a road rage near Marcel, the mystery surrounding his whereabouts continues to baffle the police.
Bhandari’s mobile phone, which rang twice after the August 31 incident, has offered little to help the investigation. Sources confirmed to The Goan that no outgoing calls were made from his phone, but it did receive two incoming calls – one from his father and another from Old Goa police.
The call from the police was answered by a supermarket staff, who claimed no connection to Bhandari or the phone number. Bhandari’s father had first alerted police after his own call to his son’s phone went through.
“The call made by the police was answered by a person working in a supermarket. He denied any connection to Bhandari or his phone number. It was likely a cross-connection, but we are tracking the number closely,” said one of the investigating team members.
Despite extensive search operations including Navy divers and Fire personnel scouring the St Estevam River, Bhandari remains untraceable. The local police had also launched a combing operation stretching several kms around the river, however, all efforts have yielded no results.
Two suspects, Yasim and Salman Gous, both from Belgaum, were detained from Hubli a week back. The charges against them are that they allegedly chased Bhandari’s rental Swift car after a minor collision near Marcel. The 22-year-old was accompanied by his girlfriend, a student of Management in Sanquelim.
Sources said that Bhandari, fearing for their safety, drove the car towards St Estevam, where he entered the ferry ramp and slipped into the river. The suspects reportedly hid their Etios in Hubli before going into hiding themselves.
Though booked under sections 351 (criminal intimidation) and 126 (wrongful restraint) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the suspects have not been arrested as the charges attract less than seven years of imprisonment. The police are now relying on technical surveillance to crack the case. “The interrogation of the suspects has not been that fruitful yet. Our investigation is nonetheless underway,” sources said.
