NT Reporter
Panaji
The Special Court, Merces, on Saturday ordered the framing of charges against prime accused Zenito Cardozo and seven others in connection with the September 2025 brutal assault on social activist Rama Kankonkar.
The matter has been adjourned to August 5 for framing of charges.
The court said that charges are framed only to facilitate the trial, thereby putting the accused on guard and notifying them of the allegations the prosecution seeks to prove against them. It is also the case of the prosecution that the accused, with common intention, committed the offence as per the instructions of accused No. 8, Zenito Cardozo.
“Therefore, I am of the view that prima facie case is made out by the prosecution against all the accused to face joint trial in this case and sufficient ground to frame charge,” said Vijaya V Ambre, Special Judge, Merces.
The court ordered charges to be framed against all the accused for offences punishable under Sections 126(2), 109, 351(3), 238, 111, read with Sections 3(5) and 61 of the BNS, 2023, and Sections 3(1)(a), 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s) and 3(2)(v) of the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The court dismissed an application filed by Cardozo seeking his discharge from the case. Cardozo had sought discharge on the grounds that there was no prima facie evidence against him or evidence connecting him with the alleged offence. He also claimed that he had been made an accused only on the basis of the confessional statement of a co-accused recorded during the investigation before the investigating officer, which could not form part of the chargesheet.
In November last year, Panaji police filed a 1,371-page chargesheet before the court against Cardozo, Suresh Naik alias Booky, Sairaj Govekar, Manish Hadfadkar, Anthony Nadar, Francis Nadar, Minguel Araujo and Franco Dcosta.
Police said previous enmity was the motive behind the assault. Police said Francis Nadar revealed during the investigation that he and his associates assaulted Kankonkar with cable wires and smeared cow dung on his face as part of a conspiracy arising from personal enmity and online mockery.
The plan was allegedly coordinated by Cardozo, police had said.
who tracked Kankonkar’s movements and communicated via WhatsApp,
Cardozo was granted conditional bail in December 2025, while the other accused are in judicial custody.
