Goa murder: One more key suspect held

A prime suspect in connection with the death of British teenaged girl Scarlette Keeling, whose body was found dead on a beach here, was arrested on Wednesday night and charged with her murder.

Placido Carvalho, whose anticipatory bail was rejected by district and sessions court, was arrested and charged with murder (section 302 of IPC), police sources said.

Carvalho's arrest came almost 48 hours after Samson D'Souza, a 29-year-old bartender at a shack on Anjuna beach, was nabbed on the charge of raping Scarlette, a few hours before her semi-nude body was found on popular Anjuna beach on February 12.

Samson and Carvalho were the two suspects from amongst a group of boys who were last seen with Scarlett on the fateful night.

Carvalho, who claims to be self employed, told police that he had seen Scarlett walking in the shack in an inebriated condition that night and later she had moved out with one Murli who works in a nearby shack named `Curlie.'

Right from the beginning of the investigation into Scarlette's death, police have been questioning Carvalho along with her Goan boyfriend Julio Lobo.

The arrest of Samson came after an eyewitness gave a testimony that he had seen him in a compromising position with Scarlett.

Earlier in the day, the Goa police had stated that they are in the final stage and will crack the entire case soon.

"It's just a matter of tying lose ends. We have almost cracked  the entire case," Inspector General of Police Kishan Kumar said.

Scarlett's death has snowballed into a major controversy with questions being raised on the safety of tourists in Goa which rolls out red carpet to 24 lakh tourists, including four lakh foreigners, every year.

The Goa police had initially insisted that Scarlette's death was accidental but filed a murder case after a second autopsy report on her body which recommended that the police should investigate the death as a homicide.

Even as Samson was arrested, Scarlett's mother Fiona Mackowen expressed her doubts about she probe being conducted by state police.

Mackowen, a mother of nine children, including Scarlett, has alleged police, criminal and politician nexus in the coastal state and said homicidal cases were being passed off as suicidal or accidental.