Prime suspect in Scarlett case held

A prime suspect in the murder of a British teenaged girl was arrested on Wednesday night even as Goa police faced fresh embarassment with a doctor, who conducted the first autopsy on her, claimed the police had ignored his finding that she could have been killed.

Placido Carvalho, whose anticipatory bail was rejected by district and sessions court on Wednesday, was arrested and charged with murder (Section 302 of IPC) of 15-year-old Scarlett Keeling, police sources said.

Carvalho's arrest came almost 48 hours after Samson D'Souza, a 29-year-old bartender at a shack on Anjuna beach, was nabbed on the charge of raping Scarlett, a few hours before her semi-nude body was found on popular Anjuna beach on February 18.

Samson and Carvalho were the two suspects from amongst a group of boys who were last seen with Scarlett on the fateful night.

Carvalho, who claims to be self employed, told police that he had seen Scarlett walking in the shack in an inebriated condition that night and later she had moved out with one Murli who works in a nearby shack named `Curlie.'

The second arrest in the murder case, which has erupted into a major controversy, came on a day when police said they were trying to get in touch with a British male tourist who may be able to provie some clue into her death.

North Goa Superintendent of Police Bosco George said a 'look-out notice' was issued against Michael Manyon, the British tourist who is known to have been at the beach cafe where Scarlett was last seen alive and believe him to be the same person who told a British daily that he witnessed an apparent sexual assault on the girl.