Cops eat ice cream with accused, face action

Panaji: It is being called the "ice cream expose"! Strict action has been promised against three policemen who shared an ice cream with a murder accused in Goa and were caught in the act by the local media.

The expose was telecast on local TV news channels Tuesday night and published in the newspapers Wednesday. The murder accused was seen eating ice cream with his police escorts during a visit to a hospital.

The incident came within hours of another under-trial, who had last year allegedly taken a contract to kill Home Minister Ravi Naik, giving his police escorts the slip while being ferried to a hospital for health reasons.

The 'ice cream expose' as the local media has called it here, shows murder accused Balesh Desai, a first cousin of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister Ramrao Dessai, digging into a slab of ice cream along with his three police escorts Suraj Gaonkar, Pradip Patil and Shivanand Budhanoor.

Desai was arrested in 2007 for allegedly murdering his driver Samir Mapari and dumping his body in a nearby water body in south Goa.

Speaking to reporters here Wednesday, Deputy Superintendent of Police (escort cell) Nandakishore Raikar said action would be taken against the three policemen.

"Eating ice cream when you are being taken for a medical check up is a serious offence. And our constables joining them in the act, is even worse. We will take strong action against the three," Raikar said.

Tuesday another undertrial Michael Fernandes, who the police had sensationally claimed had been offered a contract to kill minister Naik, escaped from his escorts while being ferried in a jeep from his judicial lock up to a local hospital.

The incident occurred near the Chicalim junction 30 km from here, when Michael, who is in judicial custody at the Sada sub jail, was being ferried to a hospital near Panaji.

"We were taking him to the hospital, when he escaped. He jumped from the prison van and made off on a motorcycle which was tailing the prison vehicle," a police officer had said.

Police have launched a manhunt to nab Michael.