Panaji: The crime branch arrested two more accused in the Porvorim Hotel Neo Majestic shooting case, taking the total number of arrests to six. The accused were arrested from Chennai, including one of the two alleged shooters, Arputharaj alias Anna Nadar, 49, from Tamil Nadu. Anna is the second shooter to be arrested in the case after Babu Ali, who was arrested two days ago near the Nepal border.Police also arrested Pavan Saur, 19, from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh, who had been residing in Mumbai recently. Anna and Pavan were arrested on Monday within the jurisdiction of Light House police station in Chennai by a team from the Goa police crime branch.The crime branch said Pavan was also actively involved in the conspiracy in which two shooters fired three to four rounds at Hotel Neo Majestic owner Shrivinas Nayak outside the hotel on Aug 28. Nayak was attacked while he was leaving the hotel for home that evening. His bodyguard also fired rounds at the attackers. However, no injuries were reported in the incident.Earlier this month, chief minister Pramod Sawant handed over the case to the crime branch for investigation. The FIR was initially registered by Porvorim police.Last week, Anna released a video on social media while police were on the lookout for him, claiming that he was being framed in the case. The crime branch, however, said such claims were a usual tactic used by accused persons to mislead investigators and divert the investigation.Anna had also been residing near Digha railway station in Mumbai recently.Last week, Qazu Sheikh, 28, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh with the assistance of Jaunpur police, while Suraj Acharya, 36, and Israr Ali, 25, were taken into custody from Mumbai.
