Maclon’s death: Standoff ends as family accepts body

CUNCOLIM: The tense situation in Velim returned to normalcy on Friday after the residents and family members decided to take possession of the body of accident victim Maclon Fernandes.
Sources said that the relatives and residents were prevailed upon by government authorities and former MLA Filipe Neri Rodrigues not to press for their demand as the body of the youth would have remained on the road for a day.
It was past midnight when the body was shifted to the morgue. It was lying there from 5.30pm onwards, when a jeep rammed into Fernandes’ scooter at Goenche bhat, Velim.
Fernandes was chasing the culprit involved in a hit- and-run case a few minutes earlier.
The locals, who gathered at the spot where Fernandes was lying on the road after the head-on collision, protested that the police failed to take the youth to the hospital quickly and conduct the autopsy.
Had the police acted swiftly, Fernandes would have survived, the locals alleged.
The police said that they were reluctant as they were accused of shielding the culprits in a similar case in Cuncolim sometime ago.
The angry locals wanted the driver to be arrested immediately and brought before them.
Intervention by locals, politicians and the police officers failed to keep them calm and as more residents gathered, the situation turned tense on Thursday night.
Sensing trouble, the police had asked for additional force which was stationed there till the situation was defused.