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Goa police files chargesheet in Scarlett murder probe
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NewsByte on 03 June, 2008 01:33:31
 
Goa police on Tuesday filed a chargesheet in a court against the two persons,
who were arrested for raping and murdering of British teenager Scarlett Eden
Keeling.
Anjuna police, which are investigating the case, chargesheeted Samson D'Souza
and Placido Carvalho before the Goa Children's Court, charging them with murder.
Scarlett's bruised body was found at Anjuna shore on February 18 and police had
arrested the two locals after a thorough investigation in the case.
The 287-page chargesheet submitted to the court has testimonies of 87 witnesses
in the case, including Scarlett's mother Fiona Mackeown, lawyer Vikram Varma,
prime British witness Micheal Mannion, dismissed police sub-inspector Nerlon
Albuquerque, Goa Medical College and Hospital's Forensic Department experts and
others.
Both the accused are chargesheeted under Section 302 of the IPC(murder) and
other relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and Section eight of Goa Children's
Act.
The state police had come under fire for its initial bungling in its probe into
the murder of Scarlet and is now in the process to hand it over to the Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
"The CBI may take over the case any time. All the formalities are completed,"
Goa Chief Secretary J P Singh said.
Samson D'Souza, the main accused in the case, is already in custody for almost
three months since his arrest on March 12. Placido Carvalho was bailed out by
the court for having insufficient evidence against him.
The state police have stopped investigating the case for the last one and half
months since the state government has given its nod to transfer the case to CBI.