Bismarque Dias case: FIR to be lodged 17 months after Goa priest’s death

Seventeen months after the death of ‘Father’ Bismarque Dias in Goa, an FIR will be lodged by the police after a bench of the Bombay high court passed an order on Tuesday.

The court passed the order while hearing the joint petition filed by the family and friends of Dias. The petition had challenged the cause of death of Bismarque calling it to be case of murder instead of drowning as was reported by the police.

“Our fight was always to get an FIR registered in the case. That was the basic right we were fighting. We are happy that the court has passed this order,” said a close friend of the family. Till date, his body continues to be in the morgue of Goa medical college.

The court has also ordered that the case now be investigated by the crime branch under the supervision of the court. The court also ordered that the crime branch submit a report every three months detailing the status of the investigation.

“We welcome this instalment of justice by the court..” said Sudeep Dalvi, a close aide of Bismarque . He added, “We were a little disappointed though, as we had requested a CBI inquiry as we had lost faith in the state government machinery. But then as of now we are happy.”