The Calangute police have arrested two Maharashtrian property brokers, Aaquib Shaukat Khalfe and Nikhil Chandrakant Raje, in connection with the murder of Deodita Fernandes. The 64-year-old woman was found dead in her Calangute flat on Thursday, with the motive believed to be a monetary dispute over the sale of her property.
The accused were apprehended at a petrol pump in Anjuna after they allegedly accessed Fernandes’ bank account using her mobile phone. Police tracked the suspects following their actions of transferring money from the victim’s account.
Khalfe, a native of Ratnagiri, had been residing in Goa for eight years and was the victim’s neighbor. He had gained her trust by frequently running errands for her and even obtained her UPI account number. Khalfe had previously worked as a driver for a former Siolim minister but turned to property brokerage after losing his job during the COVID-19 pandemic. His partner in crime, Raje, who had recently arrived in Goa and worked at a resort, was lured by the greed for money.
The crime reportedly occurred after a dispute over the distribution of commission money from a property deal that Fernandes was involved in. The victim was found strangled in her flat, and her purse and mobile phone were missing when the caretaker discovered her body late that night.
Fernandes, a resident of Karaswada, Mapusa, had come to her flat in Naikawaddo on Thursday afternoon to oversee renovations. When she failed to return home or answer calls, her sister alerted the caretaker, who found the flat locked. After using a duplicate key, the caretaker discovered Fernandes’ body in the dining hall.
Following the arrests, Khalfe and Raje were remanded to 10 days of police custody for further investigation. The case is being handled by Calangute PI Paresh Naik, under the supervision of DySP Vishwesh Karpe.