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Cops reopen doctor’s murder case after 9 years
Vancouver-based businessman Sanjay Goel has spent the last nine years trying to bring his mother’s killers to justice.
"The Canadian government must cooperate so that the perpetrators of the crime are finally brought to justice," he told the Asian Pacific Post back in 2006.
Last week his pursuit of justice got a boost.
Ottawa police, which was investigating the brutal 2003 slaying of his mother Dr Asha Goel, announced that it will review the case, after one of its own detectives said he was told years ago to close the file.
Former Ottawa homicide investigator Ken Doyle told the CBC that he was “extremely embarrassed and disappointed” that he was ordered to assist Goel’s family but not actually investigate the case further. He said he was “really disturbed” by the case.
“Because your hands are tied from the onset. I was instructed through our chain of command that we were not going to conduct an official investigation,” Doyle told the CBC.
Following Doyle’s admission, Ottawa police chief Charles Bordeleau has ordered a review of the Ottawa Police Service’s role in the murder investigation of Dr Goel.
Dr Goel, who had worked as the chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville, Ont., was found dead in her brother Suresh Agrawal's apartment in Mumbai on Aug. 23, 2003, suffering from severe injuries.
Indian police implicated six men in her slaying, including her brothers — Suresh Agrawal, who died of natural causes after Goel's death, and Subhash Agrawal, an Ottawa resident, who wasn't in India when the victim was killed.
Indian investigators alleged that Suresh conspired with his brother in Ottawa, Subhash Agrawal, and four other men to kill their 62-year-old sister.
Subhash Agrawal has denied the claims.
In 2006, the Asian Pacific Post reported charges have been laid in India against Agrawal businessman for the killing of his sister. But the case has been stalled since.
Dr. Goel, 62, was chief obstetrician at the Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville, Ontario.
An obstetrician and gynaecologist of 40 years who also practiced in Saskatchewan, she delivered more than 10,000 babies in Canada.
Indian media earlier quoted police as having said that she "got wind of a conspiracy by her brother, Suresh, to usurp their ancestral properties in Mumbai.
"What angered Asha was Suresh’s plan to share 50 percent of the properties with a brother Subhash, who lives in Canada, but deny a share to another brother Shekhar, who lives in the United States.
"Asha (Goel) had initially not shown any interest in the Mumbai properties, but on learning that Shekhar was being sidelined, had fought with Suresh.
The Mumbai-based Daily News & Analysis newspaper reported that the charge sheet "made a clear mention of the investigating agency’s suspicion about Subhash Agarwal’s `involvement’ in the murder."
"Investigations also `revealed’ that Subhash— a Canada based businessman—paid a sum of Rs 21 lakh to Anand Agarwal on September 19, 2003," the Mumbai newspaper also reported.
The payment of Rs 21 lakh (C$56,000) came less than a month after Dr. Goel was found murdered in Suresh’s house on Aug 23, 2003.
The recipient of the money Anand Agarwal has not been not included in the charge sheet.
At that time Sanjay Goel said that a warrant of arrest and a request for extradition from Canada are expected to be issued soon by authorities in India.
"It’s now up to the Canadian government to help move along this case," he said.
The Goel family had set up a website (www.ashagoel.ca) to gather support for the case.
More than 13,000 people across the world have signed a petition urging the Canadian government to ensure that all avenues of investigation are pursued, and to "compel the Indian Government to commit the necessary resources to solve this case."
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