Goa: Anjuna cops file new F.I.R for forgery against Sonali Phogat drugs case accused and owner of Curlies restaurant Edwin Nunes

PANAJI: The Goa police have registered a fresh F.I.R at the Anjuna Police Station u/s 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with forgery of an official document against Edwin Nunes – the owner of the infamous Curlies Restaurant and an accused in the Sonali Phogat murder case.

Nunes was recently granted bail in the case by a Goa Sessions court, after he was arrested by the Goa police.

“We had summoned him (Nunes) on three occasions over the last few days, as his bail conditions stipulated that he should depose before the IO (investigating officer) as and when required and mark his attendance. But Nunes failed to turn up and instead submitted an RT-PCR certificate from the Suburban Diagnostics center,” Anjuna PI Prajal Dessai was quoted by the Herald newspaper as saying.

Nunes did not visit the Anjuna police station as he was fearing the Hyderabad police would arrest him when he went there. Nunes is named as an accused in a drug-related case registered by the Hyderbad police and another co-accused and owner of the Hill Top restaurant Stephen John D’souza was recently apprehended by the Hyderabad narco unit.

Even as Nunes insisted that the Covid certificate from the Suburban Diagnostics centre was genuine, the cops got suspicious and cross-checked it with the centre.

It was found that the original certificate in the computer systems of the diagnostic center showed Covid negative, but Nunes manipulated and edited or forged it to show a Covid positive reading.

Nunes had earlier (on Friday) told the Anjuna police that he could be suffering from either dengue or Covid and the next day, his associates submitted a Covid certificate to the Anjuna police station – which he was supposed to attend in person as per the terms and conditions laid down by a Goa Sessions court which granted him bail in the Sonali Phogat murder case.

The Hyderabad narco cops had planned to arrest Nunes (in the Pritesh Narayan Borkar narcotics case) when he turned up at the Anjuna police station. They had officially informed the Anjuna police station to detain him if and when he turned up to mark his attendance.

Apprehending arrest, Nunes who got wind of the plans of the Hyderabad narco team, did not turn up at the Anjuna police station over the last 4-5 days and feigned illness.

Nunes has moved the High court for bail in the Hyderabad narco case after he failed to get any relief from a lower court.

Edwin’s anticipatory bail application was rejected on Saturday by a court in Hyderabad in the drug-related case (in which Hill Top owner Stephen John D’souza was arrested on Friday and taken to Hyderabad) and the Hyderabad narco cops (H-NEW) had requested the Goa police to track down and arrest Nunes as he has no court protection in the second case filed at the Osmania University Police Station, Hyderabad in CR No 374/2022 u/s 8C, 22(C) and section 27 of the NDPS Act.

After confirming that the Covid RT-PCR certificate was fake and forged, the Anjuna police Sunday registered a fresh F.I.R against Nunes under sections 468 and 471 of the IPC.

PSI Tejaskumar Naik is investigating under the guidance of Anjuna PI Prajal Dessai and statements of the staff at the Suburban Diagnostics centre have been recorded.

The Hyderabad police have sent a team to nab Nunes and are trying to track him down, but he is not at his residence and is said to be absconding.