Panaji, July 7 (IANS) Police are free to arrest former Goa minister Mickky Pacheco, facing culpable homicide charges, as soon as he is discharged from hospital, a court ordered Wednesday.

Hearing the interim bail application of the former tourism minister, Additional Sessions Judge Pramod Shetye said that the Crime Branch can take Pacheco into custody once he is declared medically fit.

Pacheco is the main accused, along with his aide Lyndon Monteiro, in connection with the suspicious May 30 death of his 28-year-old alleged lover Nadia Torrado.

Nadia died after consuming rat poison, reportedly after a showdown with Pacheco.

Pacheco had been missing for nearly a month after being grilled by the Crime Branch for nine hours June 4. He surrendered last week in a court in Margao, 35 km from here.

After being remanded to two days in judicial custody Saturday, Pacheco, a Nationalist Congress Party legislator, was admitted to hospital as he claimed to be suffering from hypertension and jaundice.