Two more get bail in Methar murder case
Times of India | 21 hours ago | 20-05-2022 | 04:14 am
Times of India
21 hours ago | 20-05-2022 | 04:14 am
Panaji: Two accused have been granted bail in the murder case of Vilas Methar who was burnt alive at Salvador do Mundo in 2020. All seven accused have now been granted bail. The last two accused, accused No. 2 and No. 6 Pawan Badigar and Santosh Pillai were granted bail on Thursday. The first accused Altaf Yargatti, after being denied bail by the lower courts and the high court, was granted bail by the Supreme Court. Accused 3, 4, 5, 7, Prashant alias Vishwajeet alias Bhaiya Dabolkar, Khayad alias Shafi Shaikh, Iqbal Nanpuri and Shailesh alias Shailu Shetty were released on bail by the high court. The court found that on perusal of the chargesheet, the roles attributed to Badigar and Pillai based on their voluntary statement before the police following the arrest, and statements of witnesses to police, that they were involved in making fake licence number plates for vehicles used in the offence. They are also alleged to have taken part in criminal conspiracy and were seen discussing the conspiracy in the CCTV footage of a restaurant at Panaji with the prime accused No. 1. Adv Ritesh Rawal and Adv Michael Nazareth appeared for the two accused. Methar had obtained information under the Right to Information Act of irregularities in the building of the first accused at Donwado. In October 2020, Methar, who was driving, was waylaid by two persons who poured fuel on him and set him on fire. He succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. The murder had also taken a political turn with BJP demanding indepth investigation and local MLA Rohan Khaunte demanding CBI inquiry.