Panaji: Congress today sought a CBI probe into the death of a US national in Goa this week, alleging that police were “hushing up” the case.
Caitanya Lila Holt (30) died on January 12 after he fell down in a paddy field while being chased by residents of Korgao village who mistook him for a thief.
“There should be thorough inquiry into why he was being chased and who was chasing him. We can’t rely on local police for inquiry, it should be handed over to an agency like CBI as the matter is related to a foreign national,” Goa Congress spokesperson Sunil Kawathankar said.
He said “this is the first time somebody has died of choking on mud as Goa’s paddy fields are not known to have marshy lands”.
“Police are trying to hush up the case…Pointing towards the autopsy report (in case of questions) and have failed to probe the incidents that led his death,” he added.
“Goans are known as tolerant people. We are not a violent society that someone would be chased because he was screaming in public,” Kawathankar said.
“Foreigner being chased to death will send a wrong signal in the tourism circle. On one hand we promote Goa in the US and on the other hand we are not able to protect the visitors who arrive from that part of the globe,” he added.
Holt’s autopsy report has identified “inhalation of mud” as a provisional cause of his death.