Goa minister resigns over companion’s death

PANAJI - Goa Tourism Minister Mickky Pacheco, accused of bigamy by his first wife, resigned from the cabinet Saturday over the mysterious death of his third alleged woman companion.

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said that Pacheco, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator, had quit on the instructions of the NCP high command.

Pacheco was questioned for nearly nine hours by Crime Branch officials Friday in connection with the death of his 28-year-old alleged lover Nadia Torrado, who died in Chennai after consuming rat poison.

Pacheco sent his resignation to Kamat Saturday afternoon and has not been contactable since.

In his letter, Pacheco has said that he was resigning in view of the allegations against him.

Police sources said that the NCP legislator from Benaulim had gone underground after faxing his resignation.

“We had called him to the Crime Branch for a second questioning session (Saturday). We have not been able to contact him since he submitted his resignation,” a Crime Branch official said.

Police spokesman Atmaram Deshpande said: “We have alerted all the police stations. The minister is not traceable.”

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in the city, Kamat called it a “right decision”.

“It was right decision (referring to Mickky’s resignation) because the NCP high command asked him to do so,” Kamat said.

Kamat also said that he had spoken to NCP chief Sharad Pawar about Mickky’s resignation and other political developments, adding that the Congress-led coalition government in the state would soon swear in another minister in place of Pacheco, who was minister for tourism and ports.

–Indo Asian News Service