Candolim bar owner’s killer held after 2 years

Candolim bar owner’s killer held after 2 years
Preetu Nair | TNN

Panaji: Two years after the gruesome and baffling murder of restaurateur Anuj Joshi at his home, barely a few yards from the Calangute police station, the police on Saturday said they have finally arrested the man who killed him.
North Goa Superintendent of Police Bosco George said that Somnath Shelar alias Raju Samanth from Pune has confessed that he had killed Joshi on the morning of July 2, 2006. The police had arrested Shelar, who had arrived in the state with three friends on Saturday morning, from a Saligao restaurant. The motive for Joshi’s murder, police said, was revenge.
Joshi, 43, was found dead on the first floor bedroom of his hillside bungalow with his throat slashed on July 2. The restauranteur had returned home around 3.30 am after closing The Bar, a very popular pub and watering hole for tourists as well as locals.
“During interrogation we learnt that Shelar was upset with Joshi because he was caught by Joshi trying to steal from his house in 2005. He was jailed for seven months at Aguada jail, where he swore revenge,” said SP George.
Police said the accused had murdered Joshi using a heavy hammer and knife. “He hit the hammer on his head and then slit open Anuj’s throat with a knife,” said police.
According to the police, the accused who is involved in several cases of burglary in Pune and Goa, arrived in Goa on Saturday along with three friends. “It is a gang of four, and all are involved in criminal activities in Pune and Goa,” Calangute police said. The gang was picked up from a restaurant in Saligao where they were having a drink.
The police have ruled out the involvement of the other three gang members in Joshi’s murder. “We had information about the gang and suspected Shelar’s involvement in Joshi’s murder. During interrogations he admitted his crime,” added the police.

June 8, 2008, The Times of India, Goa edition