Panaji, Jan 6 (TOI): The forensic department of Goa medical college (GMC) and hospital have said that priest-turned-social activist Bismarque Dias died due to drowning.

Speaking to TOI, Karthik Kashyap, superintendent of police, crime branch, said that the police have received the postmortem report from the GMC.

On November 8, a team of three forensic experts of GMC who conducted the second postmortem on Dias's body had reserved its opinion. GMC, in its first postmortem report, had stated that the cause of death was drowning.

The Dias family's advocate also met Kashyap on Tuesday to inquire about the progress in the case. Crime branch had already sought an appointment from the Gandhibagar-based Gujarat forensic science laboratory (GSFL) to conduct a lie detector test on Darryl Vaz, who was along with Dias the night he went missing.

Recently, Goa police had received a report from the central forensic science laboratory (CFSL), Hyderabad, which stated that there were no blood stains on the vest suspected to be that of Dias.
Last month, the CFSL in its diatom test report ruled out any foul play. Prior to that, the Hyderabad-based lab had not found any suspicious material in Dias' viscera. Crime branch, which had received all three test reports from CFSL, confirmed the police investigation that Dias died due to accidental drowning, police said.

On December 21, the justice juvenile board (JJB) had rejected a crime branch application to conduct a lie-detector test on a minor boy.

Dias has gone missing on November 6, 2014, after he allegedly went for a swim at night with two persons, Vaz, and a minor boy, from St Estevam. His body was found floating in a rivulet near the sluice gate at St Estevam the following day.