In his anticipatory bail plea, former Goa tourism minister Mickky Pacheco has stated that he did not have anything to do with the mysterious suicide of his girlfriend Nadia Torrado and that the allegations against him were “baseless”. Mr Pacheco, who went underground on Saturday after being interrogated by the Crime Branch, said in the bail plea that the fact Torrado’s family had repeatedly said that they did not suspect him of any foul play proved that he was innocent.
Terming the allegations by sections of the media, various NGOs and the BJP that he was responsible for Torrado’s death “absurd and baseless”, he has promised that he won’t jump bail or tamper with evidence if he is granted anticipatory bail. The bail hearing will take place on Wednesday. Though till date the police had maintained that they wanted Mr Pacheco only for questioning, late on Tuesday night they admitted Mr Mickky Pacheco was indeed a prime suspect in the case. This was mainly because the injury marks on Torrado’s body, two of which, sources said, seemed to have been inflicted by a blunt instrument.
Meanwhile, the Goa government inducted NCP MLA from Tivim, Mr Neelkanth Halarnkar, into the Cabinet to replace Mr Pacheco.
While NCP is adamant that Mr Halarnkar be given the tourism portfolio, the decision will be taken within one or two days.