Vasco: Animosity over an alcohol bottle is believed to have led a man to have been murdered by his friend at a site under construction along the highway at Cortalim late Tuesday evening.
Police have arrested Alex Coutinho (34) of Cortalim in connection with the murder of his friend, Lionel Lobo (32), also from Cortalim.
Addressing a news conference on Wednesday, South Goa SP Sunita Sawant the body had been found with several head injuries and police suspected head of the deceased was smashed with a cement block lying next to the body.
About The Incident
According to SP Sawant, the incident took place following animosity over a bottle of alcohol.
"The accused, Alex Coutinho, and the victim were friends and would usually sit together and have alcohol in the site under construction and the deceased would usually sleep at the site,” said SP Sawant.
SP Sawant said both of them took odd jobs to sustain themselves and while the victim worked as a waiter, the accused took petty jobs like labour.
“The accused had got a bottle of alcohol, and both were drinking together on the same site a few days ago. After they finished drinking that day, the victim took away the bottle which had some quantity of alcohol remaining in the bottle.”
“The accused harboured a grudge against the deceased for taking the remaining quantity of alcohol in the bottle a few days ago and was waiting to take revenge. The accused found the deceased in an inebriated state and fast asleep in the under construction site on Tuesday evening and committed the crime. This seemingly trivial dispute culminated in the tragic end,” said Sawant.
About The Investigation
Sawant said the victim being was found bludgeoned to death with a cement block initially perplexed the investigators.
"It was a challenging case due to the misleading information provided at the crime scene. The accused, Coutinho, was present during our initial investigation and tried to divert our attention to other potential suspects,” said SP Sawant.
“His attempt to mislead us was part of his strategy to escape the consequences of his heinous act. Police investigation uncovered crucial evidence that pointed towards Coutinho's involvement. Through meticulous investigation and gathering of evidence, we were able to establish a clear link between the accused and the murder weapon.”
“Coutinho's attempts to deceive the investigation team only raised our suspicions further. The body of Lobo had several injuries on the head and was lying in the pool of blood with blood splashed along the walls. When we interrogated the accused, we noticed that his clothes also had some blood spots.”
“After committing the crime, he was trying to escape form the area but found that there were people outside and he informed them that some persons may have killed his friend.”
SP Sawant said the people then reported the matter to the house owner, who notified the police.
Verna police have arrested Coutinho and have also informed family members of the deceased, who are abroad.
“We will conduct the post mortem after the family arrives to Goa,” said Sawant.
