Panaji: Gopal Naik, whom police had been trying to trace since the Aug 28 shooting at Porvorim, was arrested late Wednesday evening by the crime branch of the Goa police. Naik was intercepted while entering Goa in a taxi at the Collem check post. Police said he was disguised in saffron robes from head to toe when he was identified and detained.He was produced before the JMFC and remanded in five days’ police custody.Two other men travelling with him in the vehicle were also detained for investigation.Police have been searching for Naik in connection with the attempted shooting of Shrinivas Nayak, director of the Majestic Pride Group, which operates offshore and onshore casinos in Goa.“We received confidential information that Naik would be in Goa and was arriving on Wednesday. We were on the lookout for him since the time the shooting took place. We had alerted police across stations that he was likely to enter Goa. During a check at Collem, police identified and detained him. From the questioning so far, he has revealed that he had been travelling across India to hide from police since the shooting. He had been staying in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Puri in Odisha,” said crime branch SP Rahul Gupta.With Naik’s arrest, police have arrested nine accused in the case so far.“We have detained two others who were in the vehicle with him at the time he was identified. One seems to be a taxi owner and another man appears to be someone known to the taxi owner. They are most likely not Goans. If they have no other role, they will be released after inquiry. Naik’s questioning will continue. It is not known why he had returned to Goa,” Gupta said.The shooting took place on the night of Aug 28, when two men opened fire on Nayak as he was leaving Hotel Neo Majestic at Porvorim for his residence. Nayak escaped unhurt. Porvorim police registered an attempt-to-murder case after the incident, and the investigation was transferred to the crime branch on Aug 31. The motive behind the shooting is yet to be established.Those arrested earlier in the case from different parts of the country are Dinanath Kori, Qazu Sheikh, Suraj Acharya, Israr Ali, Babu Ali, Arpudaraj alias Anna, Pavan Saur, and Fakir alias Prakash Chunchwad.
