Team Goemkarponn
Mungul: A midnight plot to allegedly assassinate a rival gang leader collapsed spectacularly on Tuesday when attackers armed with guns and koitas stormed a Baleno car on the Margao–Colva road at Mungul — only to discover their intended victim was not inside.
Instead, 19-year-old Yuvkesh Singh and his friend Rafiq, returning from Colva, were caught in the assault that has sent shockwaves through Salcete and raised fears of escalating gang violence.
The Goa Police have launched a multi-pronged investigation into the violent gang clash on the Margao–Colva road at Mungul in the early hours of Tuesday, in which assailants armed with firearms and koitas targeted a Baleno car carrying 19-year-old Yuvkesh Singh and his friend Rafiq.
The brazen attack, which sparked public outrage, has raised troubling questions about its motive — whether it stemmed from past gang rivalries or possible connections to the coastal belt’s drug trade.
According to police sources, preliminary leads suggest the assault was intended to target the leader of Yuvkesh and Rafiq’s group as retaliation for an earlier attack on a gang member at Colva. The plan reportedly failed when the intended target was not in the car returning from Colva that night.
Investigators are also looking into the suspected role of a Tiswadi-based history-sheeter, believed to be seeking revenge for the Colva assault. Police are probing whether this figure was present during the attack and if criminal networks from Quepem, Tiswadi, and Ponda collaborated with accomplices from Margao, Fatorda, and other Salcete areas to carry out the strike.
Special efforts are being made to verify reports that the conspirators convened in Quepem a day before the incident to plan the ambush.
South Goa SP Tikam Singh said the exact motive would be confirmed only after detailed interrogations. “We are investigating all angles,” he stated, as the crackdown on suspects across multiple talukas continued.
