NCP demands CBI probe into US national's death in Goa

PANAJI: The NCP on Monday demanded a CBI probe into the death of a US national in Panaji and said the issue will have international ramifications "as local policemen were also part of the mob" that chased him.

"The reports are clear that policemen were also part of the mob that chased the US national...the local police cannot investigate the matter. The case will have international ramifications as the person concerned is an American," NCP Goa spokesman Trojano D'Mello told PTI.

Caitanya Holt had died at Korgao village on January 12 after he fell down in a paddy field while running away from a group of chasing locals who mistook him for a thief.

The autopsy report has identified "inhalation of mud" as the provisional cause of his death.

The NCP alleged that the police were trying to hush up the matter and demanded that CBI should take over the case.

Alleging that the law and order machinery had collapsed in the state, D'Mello said: "We have to find out whether any politician instigated the mob...was there any drug connection (to it) or it's a fallout of some earlier criminal history."

"You run after a man (Holt), chase him to death and then say he died after choking on mud. There are no words to condemn it," D'Mello said.

Congress had also on Sunday demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter.