IANS

Panaji, Jun 10: The mother of Nadia Torrado, former Goa tourism minister Mickky Pacheco's alleged lover, has burnt all evidence relevant to her daughter's death due to poisoning last month, police told a local court Wednesday.

The investigators have sought custodial interrogation of Pacheco, the former minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator, who police claim is one of the suspects in Nadia's mysterious death.

Arguing against an anticipatory bail plea of Pacheco at the Margao District and Sessions court, Crime Branch officials have said that the legislator had met Nadia a day before she consumed rat poison.

"The custodial interrogation of former tourism minister Francisco alias Mickky Pacheco is essential for the investigation," Crime Branch officials have said in a written statement to the court, which has reserved for Thursday its decision on Pacheco's anticipatory bail plea.

Police also said that Nadia's mother, Sonia Torrado, had instructed the housemaid to destroy five bags of documents and clothes, after her daughter consumed rat poison May 15.

She died 15 days later at a Chennai hospital.

Meanwhile, in a petition filed at the Bombay High Court, Sonia has accused the police of harassing her into making false allegations against Pacheco and has asked the court to order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) enquiry into her daughter's death.

"Police under the pretext of carrying out the investigations have been harassing the petitioners and putting them under great mental trauma by directly and indirectly threatening them and pressuring them to make untrue statements," Sonia said in her petition.

"It is necessary that the investigation be handed over to some free and impartial agency like the CBI," Sonia said.