Thaindian News

Panaji, June 21 (IANS) The Goa Police have claimed to have solved the murder of a 65-year-old woman with the arrest of five people, including two of her grandchildren. The motive for the killing, police said, was to get money for betting on IPL and Euro Cup matches.

Police also said the gold jewellery and Rs.4 lakh cash which was stolen after the murder May 11, was spent on betting on the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well as the Euro Cup football matches.

South Goa Superintendent of Police Arvind Gawas said the five people, including two minor grandsons of the deceased Linda Andrade, were arrested Wednesday.

“The accused wanted money to bet on the ongoing Euro Cup matches. They were also betting on IPL matches in the past. The murder was a well-planned conspiracy because their motive was to get the money for the betting. They went ahead with the murder when they were sure of the fact that her husband was not at home,” Gawas told IANS Thursday.

“They (grandsons) had lured the grandfather out of the house so that the murder could be committed,” he added.

Linda, who stayed at her ancestral home in Velim, 50 km from here, was smothered to death by her grandsons and their friends May 11, when the IPL tournament was at its fag end. Later, they stole gold jewellery and cash from the house.

The names of the two arrested majors are Alcino Mascarenhas and Dattaraj Satoskar, aged 19 and 21, respectively, while the three others, including the two grandsons, are minors.

“They stole some Rs.4 lakh from the house after the murder. We kept an eye on the grandchildren which paid off. Some time after the murder, they started buying Nike shoes and started throwing money around. That’s when our suspicions grew and we called them for enquiry,” Gawas said.