Panaji, Sep 24 (IANS): As much as 90 per cent foreigners who are released on bail in Goa cannot be traced by state agencies and may have fled the country, the Bombay High Court bench in Goa noted on Thursday.

Hearing an appeal filed by the state government challenging the acquittal of Czech national Pavel Neuhausel in a murder case, a division bench of Justices M.S. Sonak and M.S. Jawalkar said: "It is evident that in almost 90 per cent of the cases where the foreigners have been enlarged on bail, their present whereabouts are unknown, meaning thereby, that in all probabilities, such foreigners have fled the country or otherwise are not available to face the prosecution."

Neuhausel was acquitted by a trial court in connection with the murder of his partner Marketa Horka in 2013. He was granted bail in course of the trial, but has not been traceable ever since.

"If the police officials concerned were to realise that the foreigners are not attending the police stations and marking their attendance, the least that was expected was to move the courts for cancellation of bail. Besides, the police officials were required to immediately swing into action and trace such foreigners, before they succeed in fleeing from justice," the court said.

According to statistics submitted by the Goa Police to the court in course of the hearing, 366 foreigners who were granted bail over the last five years cannot be traced.

Goa is one of the leading beach tourism destinations in the country and more than half a million foreign tourists, mostly from Europe, used to visit the coastal state each year.