Alleging a huge cover-up in the Nadia Torrado case, the police said on
Wednesday that former tourism minister Francisco "Mickky" Pacheco paid her
family huge sums of money.
Opposing Pacheco’s anticipatory bail petition, the crime branch told the Margao
sessions court that Nadia’s personal stuff was burnt even before her funeral
and that her estranged widower had in his divorce petition charged Pacheco with
ruining the couple’s marital life.
To clear all these points and throw light on the nature of his relationship
with Nadia as well as on the evidence collected from the remnants of the burnt
stuff, the prosecution sought Pacheco’s custodial interrogation.
Public prosecutor Sarojini Sardinha said, "The family members of the deceased
and the applicant (Pacheco) have given contradictory statements suggesting a
cover-up of the entire episode."
The prosecution told the court that Torrados’ maid in her statement informed
the crime branch that on June 1, the mother had given her two bags containing
clothes and papers with instructions to burn them and ensure that nothing
remains. On June 2, the maid claimed she was handed three more bags to be
burnt. However, says the prosecution, to Pacheco’s and the mother’s bad luck,
substantial evidence has been collected by the investigating agency from the
burnt remnants of the bags.
These include a Qatar Airways boarding pass in Nadia’s name, mentioning her as
a "VIP" and a "spouse of tour..." with the rest of it being destroyed by the
fire. "This points out that the applicant was named as the spouse as he was the
tourism minister at that time," argued the prosecution. Remnants of some of
Nadia’s visiting cards also mentioned Pacheco’s address.
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