Margao/Panaji: An overnight operating cracking down the Swapnil Walke murder case by Crime Branch was a unique example of meticulous investigation, teamwork within the department, and presence of mind.
Omkar Patil and Edson Gonsalves, two accused were the first ones to be detained by police during an overnight operation, after which the third accused Mushtafa Sheikh surrendered before Margao police.
Sources in the know stated that the preliminary investigation points out that the motive of the crime was to commit a robbery, which failed after which the assailants shot Swapnil and than stabbed him with a knife.
This case may have been looked like a blind one, if not for the Bolaro jeep, which was found parked near the shop of Walke. The jeep, which was stolen from Panaji by Omkar and Mushtafa, was without a number plate, enough to raise the suspicion.
Crime Branch sleuths were roped in with police picking up its one of the best team headed by Police Inspector Dattaguru Sawant and comprising of Head Constable Dinesh Pikulkar, Constables Vinay Shrivastava, Irmaya Gurraiya, Naveen Palyekar, Kalpesh Shirodkar, and Kiran Parab.
The Crime Branch team managed to track down Omkar and Edson in the night. Omkar, living at St Cruz near Panaji, is a habitual offender who has a history of jailbreak in the year 2014.
After their arrest, the crime branch was on the lookout for Mushtafa, who was the prime person, who attacked Swapnil. After chasing him throughout the night and also during the morning, he later surrendered before Margao Police.
Sources stated that there are at least two more people involved in the crime.
Police are also investigating the angle wherein Mushtafa had approached Swapnil, some days back to sell his stolen gold. The details of the deal will be revealed during the investigation.
