Rent-a-car owner murders teen, stages it as drunken accident

By Sumesh Rajan | November 4, 20250

Panaji, Goa, INDIA: In a chilling case of vigilante justice gone wrong, a 19-year-old youth from Uttar Pradesh was allegedly beaten to death in Goa by the owner of a rent-a-car agency and his associates, who later attempted to pass off the murder as an accidental death under the influence of alcohol.

The deceased has been identified as Kapil Chaudhary, a resident of Pata Khas village in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh. According to police, Chaudhary had rented a Mahindra Thar SUV from a car rental agency in Candolim and was allegedly trying to flee with it when the owner and two others caught up with him.

The North Goa Police have arrested three accused in the case — Gurudat Subhash Lawande (31), the owner of the rent-a-car agency and a resident of Candolim; Daison Agnelo Coutinho (31) of Calangute; and Suraj Jotish Thakur (21) of Candolim.

The Crime

SP (North Goa) Rahul Gupta said the sequence of events began on Thursday October 30, when the victim hired the SUV from Lawande’s agency using a soft copy of a driving licence bearing the name “Deepak Thakur.”

Later that evening, Lawande discovered through a GPS tracker that the vehicle had crossed the Goa border into Maharashtra. Suspecting theft, Lawande and his friends Coutinho and Thakur drove towards Kankavli in Maharashtra, where they located the vehicle along with Chaudhary.

“They confronted Chaudhary and forcibly brought him back to Goa in the same SUV,” SP Gupta said. “Once in Tivim, they assaulted him with fists, kicks, and a wooden stick. The stick used in the assault was later recovered from a nearby jungle.”

The accused then abandoned the teenager in a hilly, grassy area near Pirna village in Cansa Tivim, leaving him grievously injured. In a bid to mislead investigators, they allegedly placed an empty liquor bottle in his pocket to stage the scene as if the youth had died in a drunken fall.

The Discovery

On Friday October 31 evening, the Colvale police received a call from an unidentified person reporting that a man was lying unconscious by the roadside in a hilly area of Tivim. Police found the body about three meters from the road, wearing a grey T-shirt and blue jeans, with severe facial injuries and abrasions on both hands.

Upon inspection, officers found a PAN card in his pocket under the name “Deepak Thakur” and an empty quarter bottle of liquor. The body was shifted to the district hospital in Mapusa, where doctors declared him brought dead.

Identification and Arrests

While police were still verifying the deceased’s identity, Shrinivas Singh (46), a resident of Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, arrived at the Colvale police station, reporting that his son Kapil Chaudhary, who had left home for Goa, had gone missing and his mobile phone was switched off.

Police tracked the last known location of Chaudhary’s phone to Tivim. When Singh was shown the deceased’s photograph, he confirmed it was his son.

Following a technical investigation, police identified the suspects and arrested all three. They are now facing charges of murder (Section 302 IPC) and destruction of evidence (Section 201 IPC).

The Cover-Up

SP Gupta said the accused intended to portray the incident as a drunken mishap. “They bought a liquor bottle from a local wine shop, placed it in his pocket, and left him there to die. It was a deliberate attempt to mislead investigators,” he said.

The victim’s body has been sent for post-mortem examination at the Goa Medical College, Bambolim. Police have seized the wooden stick, the SUV, and other incriminating materials.

Investigators are also verifying whether the driving licence and PAN card used by the victim were forged documents.

The brutal murder has sent shockwaves through Goa’s coastal belt, raising questions over vigilante-style violence and the unchecked operations of rent-a-car networks in the state’s popular tourist zones of Candolim and Calangute.