Bennett brother wants Goa link probed

Stephen, a British tourist, was found murdered in Raigad district on Dec 11, 2006

Malsai was the climax, but it was Goa where the story began,” says Paul Bennett (42), brother of slain British tourist Stephen Bennett. Stephen, a tourist of British National was found murdered in Malsai village near Roha in Raigad district on December 11, 2006. A few days after his death, his mother Maureen revealed that her son had been calling her from Goa, stating that he feared for his life.

It is the sequence to his murder that Paul wants investigated properly and that is what he says he has communicated to the Director General of Police P S Pasricha, when he met him at his office on Wednesday.

“My meeting with the state chief was to apprise him that the investigation only probes into what happened in the last one hour before he was found dead. The sequence of events that led to the death has not been delved upon and they don’t have any evidences. They also don’t have any evidence on how Stephen reached Malsai from Wadkhal, where he was seen last. We have requested for a much more scientific probe,” said Paul.

Paul said DG Pasricha has told him that ‘the chargesheet of the case is ready’ and there should be a trial in another six months. Paul added that Pasricha has also assured him of a 90 per cent conviction. DG Pasricha when contacted said, “We had a discussion on certain points. The chargesheet is filed and we are looking into the matter.”

The family feel that there are many irregularities in the investigations, which they would like re-examined. “We were informed by the police that the last phone call was made by Stephen was from Roha, which later turned to be from Wadkhal. We want them to help us trace the events that occurred before he was found dead by a tree. We want to know when he was spotted last at Wadkal,” says Paul.

Paul adds, “We are convinced that he was travelling by road while the police is convinced that he took a train. The point is that the time, evidences and tickets tell a different story.”