Builder paid Rs 3 lakh to murder man who questioned his project: Goa cops

PANAJI: Porvorim police said on Sunday that Altaf Yargatti, the builder behind the supari killing of Torda resident Vilas Methar, paid around Rs 3 lakh for the hit.
A day after four persons were arrested for the murder, Porvorim police on Sunday arrested Khayad Shaikh. All five have been remanded in eight days police custody.
Police said that Yargatti met supari ‘contractors’ Pawan Badigar, Iqbal Nanpuri and Vishwajeet Dabholkar a month ago to discuss the plan to kill Methar.Initially, the plan was to threaten Methar, as he had filed some complaints against Yargatti.
The investigation, according to police, was based on Methar’s dying declaration. They called Yargatti to the police station, where he then narrated the plan.
On Wednesday, Methar, who was driving, was waylaid near the Torda creek by two persons who poured fuel on him and set him afire. On Thursday, the victim, who sustained severe burn injuries, succumbed at GMC.
On Saturday, police had said that the motive behind the murder was that Methar used to file RTI applications and complaints against the builder pertaining to his construction project at Torda. He had approached the panchayat and also filed RERA-related complaints.
Police said they identified the accused from CCTV footage and started tracing them. After two of them were traced to Sindhudurg, they alerted Maharashtra police and asked them to detain the duo.
A Goa police team then went to Sindhudurg and took custody of the two accused. Police had said that as the inquiry progresses, there is a possibility of more arrests in the case.