Panaji: A Merces court rejected bail to Safikul and Raju B in connection with the dacoity at the house of Dr Mahendra Ghanekar at Ganeshpuri, Mapusa on Oct 7 last year.The accused persons said they had no knowledge of the crime and were working as cleaners at a company in Bengaluru. They said the grounds of arrest were never informed to them, and no intimation was given to their next of kin. They also said they were illegally arrested from their workplace, kept in a hotel, and brought to Goa in Oct without a transit remand from the arrest magistrate at Bengaluru.The IO stated that they were residents of Bengaluru but natives of Bangladesh, and that intimation of arrest, grounds of arrest, and all legal rights were informed by the Mapusa police station. The IO said all Supreme Court guidelines were observed, with intimation given to the next of kin. The IO also said that their previous bail application was rejected as well, the offence was a heinous crime, and that they were not cooperating with the investigation. Granting bail may result in them absconding, tampering with evidence, or threatening the victims of the crime.The court held that merely because they disowned the person who was intimated about the arrest, it could not be believed that he was not the next of kin. It added that the chargesheet clearly showed that the grounds and reasons for arrest, and intimation of arrest, were done.Six or seven persons broke open the metal grilles of Ghanekar’s home between 3pm and 5pm on Oct 7, tied him and his family, assaulted them, threatened to kill them, and stole gold, silver, and the family car, all worth Rs 35 lakh. Police teams were subsequently constituted and deputed to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and Meghalaya.
