Family of doctor killed in India seeks justice, government help

The family of a doctor and mother of three who was brutally killed in India 19 years ago is calling on Ottawa to take action to help with the investigation.

The victim’s son, Vancouver businessman Sanjay Goel, said Tuesday one of the men wanted in connection with the killing is living in Toronto, and police have never acted on an Interpol request to arrest him.

“When you look at other circumstances around the world where Canadians have been in trouble or victims of violence…it appears that there has been greater involvement or response from Canada than in this case,” he said. “My mom contributed an awful lot to her adopted country, and all we’re asking is some help.”

Dr. Asha Goel worked in obstetrics and gynaecology for decades after coming to Canada in the early ‘60s.

Goel said it’s his understanding there are “somewhere close to a hundred children” named after his mother.

“She fought for women’s rights in Canada. She was a staunch defender and advocate for women,” he said. “She was very strong. She was very much the strength in our family. She was very much the person who said ‘It can be done.’”

In 2003, the then-62 year-old was brutally killed on a visit to India. She was staying at her brother’s place when she was found dead.

Her son said prior to her death, there had been a dispute over a family inheritance, which she didn’t want to get involved in. Four men were ultimately charged.

Goel says one of his uncles, who is living in Canada, is also wanted in connection with the case. However, despite an Interpol request to arrest Subhash Agrawal, Goel says no action has been taken.

“There are many things the government could assist with,” he said. “Whether it be cellphone records, other types of banking records…even just to the best of our knowledge, there’s been no formal inquiry, interview.”

The RCMP national headquarters would not say if police are liasing with law enforcement in India to assist with the case. In an email, the police told CTV News they do not comment on investigations being conducted by other countries. They added the Interpol notice is not legally binding.

A special prosecutor has now been appointed to the case in India before a trial is held.

Goel said the family plans to launch a new petition through a website devoted to seeking justice for his mother, asking the Canadian government to take action.

He said he’s forever grateful for his mother’s encouragement, and can-do spirit.

“She was a fervent supporter of all three of her children,” he said. “All we want is the truth.”

Vancouver family demands justice for mother killed in India

A Vancouver man calls Canada’s reluctance to arrest his uncle, accused of murder in India, troubling.

For the 19 years since his mother was brutally murdered in India, Vancouver businessman Sanjay Goel has been seeking justice.

Now, on the eve of a trial in India, Goel, 57, said that despite repeated requests, Canadian authorities and the RCMP refused to arrest his uncle, Subhash Agrawal, one of the men wanted by the murder, found in Canada.

Asha Goel, a prominent and highly respected Canadian doctor, was found beaten to death in her brother’s home in Mumbai in August 2003.

“It’s painful every day,” said Sanjay Goel.

Asha was born in India but came to Canada in 1963. She became the chief of obstetrics at Headwaters Health Center in Orangeville, Ontario. A tireless advocate for women, Asha gave birth to more than 10,000 babies and was active in her community, said her son, who believes authorities have done less for her than for other Canadians killed in abroad.

In 2003, Asha traveled to Mumbai for a family wedding. At the time, Asha and her siblings were involved in a dispute over an important family inheritance. Her mother, whom Sanjay describes as “the center of the wheel” among her siblings, wanted nothing to do with the conflict and tried to stay out of it. Although her brother in India, Suresh Agrawal, had leveled some disturbing accusations at her mother, she agreed to come to her house for dinner to make amends.

After dinner, Agrawal encouraged her to spend the night. The next morning, she was found dead, Sanjay said, brutally beaten with two granite baseboards and stabbed with a paring knife.

Sanjay, president of a cruise company, was at sea when he received the news. He remembers climbing down the side of a moving ship in the middle of the night, boarding a fishing boat, numb and in shock. It was the beginning of a long and worrying journey in search of justice for his mother.

In 2005, Mumbai police charged four men with plotting to murder Asha; three were employees of Asha’s brother, Suresh, and one was her son-in-law. One of the men gave a full confession, claiming that they had been hired by Asha’s two brothers, Suresh and Subhash. Police named Subhash, then an Ottawa resident, as a key co-conspirator and “wanted defendant.”

Subhash has denied having anything to do with Asha’s death.

In 2006 Interpol issued a red notice (a request to law enforcement around the world to locate and arrest a person) for Subhash, who in 2005 had become a Canadian citizen. Since Canada has a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with India, Sanjay expected the RCMP to take action.

The family advocated with the RCMP and police in Ottawa. Despite spending thousands of dollars to assist the investigation and provide documents from India, the RCMP did not seek to arrest Subhash, who continues to live as a free man in Toronto, Sanjay Goel said.

“We have put in an exhaustive effort and Canadian officials have done nothing,” he said.

Although Sanjay stops short of using the word “racism,” he said the lack of action by Canadian authorities is disconcerting: “The only thing that comes to mind is his ethnicity. My mother was a citizen of Canada for twice as long as she was a citizen of India. What separates her case from other cases in which Canadian law enforcement has supported investigations abroad?

Although a new and highly respected public prosecutor was appointed in India, bringing new hope to the family, Sanjay Goel said justice cannot be served as long as Canada allows his uncle to continue to live in peace in Toronto.

“Part of the pride of being Canadian is knowing that we have the support and protection of our country wherever we go, and that sense of protection has been betrayed in this case. It’s very sad,” he said.

India appoints special prosecutor in case of murdered Canadian doctor

Paula Arab | August 23, 2022

Family marks 19th anniversary of mother’s killing saying Canada doesn’t do enough when immigrants of South Asian descent are killed in India.

The family of a Canadian doctor, who was killed in Mumbai 19 years ago, is hoping that the appointment of a special prosecutor in India to lead the case, will reopen the stalled investigation in Canada.

Dr. Asha Goel, a 62-year-old obstetrician from Orangeville, Ont. was killed by hired assassins at her family’s ancestral home in Mumbai, Maharashtra on August 23, 2003

Since then, family members have made more than 100 trips to Mumbai and Ottawa seeking justice for Dr. Goel, who during a 40-year tenure in Ontario and Saskatchewan delivered about 10,000 babies.

Earlier this month, the Maharashtra State Government announced that Ujjwal Nikam, a decorated and internationally renowned criminal law specialist, who has secured about 40 death penalties and more than 300 life imprisonments in India, will lead the case for the prosecution.

The case is scheduled to go before a judge of the Mumbai Sessions Court on August 24, 2022.

According to Indian police, one of the key suspects in Dr Goel’s murder is her brother, Subhash Agrawal, a Canadian citizen who lives in the Toronto area.

He is a wanted accused in India and is the subject of an outstanding Interpol Red Notice for murder, robbery and other charges. Agrawal has denied any involvement with the murder of his sister and allegations have not been proven in court.

“The appointment of Mr. Ujjwal Nikam as Special Public Prosecutor is a significant step forward in our 19-year fight for justice for our mother” Dr. Goel’s son, Sanjay Goel, a Vancouver-based businessmen said. “We couldn’t ask for anyone more skilled and dedicated to lead the prosecution in India.

“While India is helping us seek justice, Canada has stalled in helping resolve the murder of our mother, a Canadian citizen.” Sanjay added. “They keep saying it is an Indian matter.”

As the family marked the sombre 19th anniversary of Dr. Goel’s murder, they issued a statement to New Canadian Media, saying: “We have seen swift and decisive RCMP action in many other cases involving Canadians killed in Mexico, the United States and Europe. But when it comes to Indo-Canadians being killed in India, there seems to be a different standard.

“Subhash Agrawal is wanted in India in connection with the murder of our mother. After 19-years, he remains free in Toronto, and Canada has done nothing to answer the charges, despite an Interpol Red Notice for him that has been outstanding for over a decade.”

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” said Daljit Kaur, a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) legal case specialist and social activist. “It is a travesty of justice both in Canada and India that this case has taken almost 19 years to go to trial.”

Kaur said there have been dozens of contract killings of overseas-based Indians in the State of Punjab, where most of the Indo-Canadian immigrants hail from. Most of them involve land-disputes and dowry cases, she said.

“In many of the cases where the hired killers get caught, the alleged architects of the crime remain out of reach in their new country of residence,” Kaur said.

“Bringing back offenders and wanted persons from foreign countries is essential for providing timely justice especially in these so-called supari or contract killings of Non-Resident Indians,” she said. “We will be closely watching the developments in this case to ensure the family gets justice in India and Canada.”

Charlotte MacLeod, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, said the department is aware of the trial taking place this week.

“Canadian consular officials are monitoring this case closely and are providing consular services to the family. Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be provided,” she told NCM. “Global Affairs Canada is committed to providing effective and efficient consular service to Canadians around the world.”

Dr. Goel’s son in Vancouver, Sanjay, said the actions taken so far by Global Affairs Canada has “neither been active nor efficient.”

“Canada needs to investigate the involvement of the key suspect in Canada – Subash Agrawal – and charge him with conspiracy in Canada, if the case merits it,” he said.

Investigators in India state that Dr. Goel was in Mumbai to visit another of her brothers, Suresh Agrawal, when she was murdered. They allege Suresh conspired with his brother Subhash in Toronto to kill their sister over a disputed inheritance worth $12 million.

Suresh has since died.

Mumbai police also arrested four others and charged them with murder.

Three of them were employees of the Agrawal brothers – Pradeep Parab, Pawankumar Goenka and Manohar Shinde. The fourth was Suresh Agrawal’s son-in-law — Narendra Goel (no relation of Dr. Asha Goel).

Shinde has also since died. But Parab has provided a confession to police and turned state’s witness while Goenka and Narendra Goel go before the courts this week.

In his confession, which is central to the case, Parab describes in gruesome detail the roles of the various accused in the case, saying he was to be paid about C$150 to help kill Dr. Goel.

Vancouver family demands justice for slain mother in India

Denise Ryan | August 22, 2022

Vancouver man calls Canada’s reluctance to arrest his uncle, who is accused of murder in India, troubling.

For 19 years since his mother was brutally killed in India, Vancouver businessman Sanjay Goel has been seeking justice.

Now, on the eve of a trial in India, Goel, 57, said, that despite repeated requests, Canadian authorities and the RCMP have declined to arrest his uncle, Subhash Agrawal, one of the men wanted in the slaying, who is in Canada.

Asha Goel, a prominent and widely respected Canadian doctor, was found bludgeoned to death in her brother’s home in Mumbai in August 2003.

“It’s painful every day,” said Sanjay Goel.

Asha was born in India but came to Canada in 1963. She became the chief obstetrician at the Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville, Ont. A tireless advocate for women, Asha delivered over 10,000 babies and was active in her community, said her son, who believes authorities have done less for her case than for other Canadians killed overseas.

In 2003 Asha travelled to Mumbai for a family wedding. At the time, Asha and her brothers were embroiled in a squabble over a substantial family inheritance. His mother, whom Sanjay describes as “the centre of the wheel” among her siblings, wanted nothing to do with the conflict, and tried to stay out of it. Although her brother in India, Suresh Agrawal, had lobbed some troubling accusations at his mom, she agreed to go to dinner at his home to make peace.

After dinner, Agrawal encouraged her to stay overnight. The next morning she was found dead, Sanjay said, brutally beaten with two granite baseboards, and stabbed with a vegetable paring knife.

Sanjay, president of a cruise ship company, was at sea when he got the news. He remembers climbing down the side of a moving ship in the middle of the night, boarding a fishing vessel, numb and in shock. It was the beginning of a long and troubling journey seeking justice for his mom.

In 2005, Mumbai police charged four men with conspiracy to murder Asha; three were employees of Asha’s brother Suresh and one was his son-in-law. One of the men gave a full confession, alleging they had been hired by Asha’s two brothers, Suresh and Subhash. Police named Subhash, then a resident of Ottawa, as a key co-conspirator and “wanted accused.”

Subhash has denied he had anything to do with Asha’s death.

In 2006 Interpol issued a red notice (a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and arrest a person) for Subhash, who in 2005 had become a Canadian citizen. Because Canada has a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with India, Sanjay expected the RCMP would take action.

The family advocated with the RCMP, and the police in Ottawa. Despite spending thousands of dollars to assist in the investigation, and provide documents from India, the Mounties didn’t pursue an arrest of Subhash, who continues to live as a free man in Toronto, said Sanjay Goel.

“We have gone through an exhaustive effort and Canadian officials have done nothing,” he said.

Although Sanjay stops short of using the word “racism,” he said the lack of action by Canadian authorities is perplexing: “The only thing that comes to mind is her ethnic background. My mother was a citizen of Canada for twice as long as she was a citizen of India — what separates her case from other cases where Canadian law enforcement has supported investigations abroad?”

Although a new and highly respected public prosecutor has been appointed in India, bringing new hope to the family, Sanjay Goel said that justice can’t be served as long as Canada allows his uncle to remain living peacefully in Toronto.

“Part of the pride of being Canadian is knowing that we have our country’s support and protection wherever we go, and that sense of protection has been betrayed in this case. It’s very sad,” he said.

Dr Aasha Goel murder case: 18 years on, trial yet to start

Published: Saturday, Aug 07, 2021, 7: 28pm IST By Charul Shah | Place: Mumbai | Agency: Hindustan Times

Around 18 years after the murder of Dr Aasha Goel, her family is still awaiting the trial of four accused including one of her brothers and her maternal uncle. 

Dr Goel, 62, was murdered the Malabar Hill residence of her brother Suresh Agarwal on August 14, 2003. Police had found 21 injuries on her body including a massive head injury, broken jaw, ruptured liver and stab wounds.      

A murder case was registered with Malabar police station and was later transferred to the Mumbai Police’s crime branch. The crime branch had booked four persons — Narendra Goel, Pradeep Parab, Pawankumar Goenka and Manohar Shinde.      

Police claimed that the accused took care of properties belonging to the Agarwals and were allegedly paid by one of the brothers. Of the four accused, Parab has been turned an approver in the case.           

However, since 2006, the case has been stuck in legal tangle. It was only in 2016 that the case came to be committed to the sessions court for trial.       

While talking to HT, Goel’s son Sanjay and daughter Rashmi expressed disappointment at the way the case was being dragged for so many years. “It’s very frustrating. These accused follow a pattern whereby they file frivolous application one after the other which takes lot of time of the court and the case gets stuck,” said Rashmi, 53, professor of law at the University of Denver.

Recently when the case was scheduled for trial, the accused filed applications for production of various documents which included copies of remand applications submitted by crime branch in 2003 while seeking custody of the accused, narco analysis report of the accused conducted at Bengaluru, lie detection report of accused conducted at Gujarat, copy of passport of Shekhar Agrawal (one of Goel’s brothers), insurance policy, insurance claim letter, correspondence regarding insurance payment of Goel.    

The sessions court, after hearing the plea, denied supplying several documents to the accused as they are irrelevant to the case. The prosecution, however, has been asked to supply copies of narco analysis test Report and lie detector test report of accused.

 “The sessions court has been asked to expedite the trial, but things just get delayed. Our concerns now, with the challenges that Covid brings, are availability of witnesses and medical evidence; especially when there is restriction on travel for people residing out of India. How will my father, who is 84, depose,” Rashmi said.

Sanjay, Goel’s elder son who works with travel industry, said he has been to India for more than 80 times and met senior officials to discuss the case. “We just want justice. I was there with my mother when she visited India in 2003. She wanted to meet her brother who was unwell, and it was rakhi time. She was so worried about her brothers. But look what they did to her,” Sanjay said.  

Why won’t Canada help me get my mother’s killers?

Published: Thursday, January 16, 2020 By Sanjay Goel | Agency: New Canadian Media

This week, for the 89th time in 16 years, I will head to India to seek justice for my murdered mother, Dr. Asha Goel.

According to police and court documents that have been filed in Mumbai, she was killed by four assassins, allegedly hired by two of her brothers over a dispute about their father’s $10-million estate.

She was trying to broker a peace between her brothers when she was stabbed and bludgeoned to death at our family’s ancestral home in August 2003.

My 62-year-old mother was an obstetrician and gynecologist who, over 40 years, delivered more than 10,000 babies in Orangeville, Ont., and in Saskatchewan.

Dozens of her patients have named their children Asha, because she excelled in complicated births.

Most importantly, my mother was a proud Canadian; a defender of the health-care system and an advocate for women.

However, she is being treated as anything but a Canadian.

For over a decade, we’ve been trying to get assistance from the RCMP and the federal government to help us bring the alleged killers to justice.

One of my mother’s brothers, Subhash Agrawal, is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice. He remains beyond the long arm of Indian law as a Canadian citizen living in the Toronto area.

Since my mother’s murder, we’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, DNA analysis and travel, to assist in the investigations.

Indian police who have come to Canada said they could not get any meaningful assistance here.

One of the hired killers has also gone before an Indian magistrate, confessing to the murder and exposing those who hired him and his accomplices.

Time is Running Out

The case against my mother’s killers is strong.

But it’s deteriorating given the passage of time and Canada’s reluctance to get involved.

Now one of the warring brothers, allegedly the architect of the crime, has died. One of the hired killers charged in the case has died. My aunt, a key witness to the events that led up to the murder, has died.

Evidence collected over the years has been misplaced in India, jeopardizing the trial.

Certain key documents have expired due to statutes of limitations that govern their enforcement shelf live.

I fear my 82-year-old father, who’s making the trek to India with me this time, may never see justice done for his wife.

I keep asking myself: would things be different if my mother was a white Canadian?

I’ve seen swift and decisive RCMP action in many other cases involving Canadians killed in Mexico, the United States and Europe.

But when it comes to Indo-Canadians being killed in India, there seems to be a different standard.

My story is not unlike that of the long-running Canada-India murder case involving the contract-killing of Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, a beautician from Maple Ridge.B.C.

Sidhu, known as Jassi, 25, was killed in Punjab, India, in June 2000 after she defied her family to marry the man she loved – a poor rickshaw driver from her ancestral village.

Within days, Indian police arrested the assassins, who they said were hired by Jassi’s mother and uncle, living in Canada.

It took 18 years, several court cases in Canada, three documentaries, a made-for-TV movie, a website called justiceforjassi.com and a book before the pair was extradited to India on Jan. 25, 2019, to make their first appearance in a court in Malerkotla, Punjab.

I can only hope I don’t have to wait that long.

Canada has so far not helped me get justice for my mom. But many Canadians have.

I thank you for that.

When not on his quest for justice, Sanjay Goel is the president of the Vancouver-based holiday business, Cruise Connections Canada.

89 trips in 16 years: Canada resident’s long battle for justice for mother’s murder

Published: Tuesday, January 14, 2020, 04:47 PM IST By Ramavtar Maheshwari | Place: Mumbai | Agency: The Free Press Journal

Mumbai police believes that the four murderers were hired by Dr. Goyal’s warring brothers – Suresh and Subhash Aggarwal to kill their sister and make it look like suicide.

Mumbai: For the 89th time in 16 years, Canada-based businessman Sanjay Goyal has come to India to seek justice against his mother’s murder. Mr Goyal said, “I am hoping and praying that the justice system in India will no longer delay any case”.

Goyal on Monday, January 13, in front of the Additional Sessions Judge, said, “I have been wandering in India for last 16 years for justice against killing my mother. We want justice for my mother and hope to see the culprits behind the bars. “

Sanjay Goyal’s mother, Dr. Asha Goyal, was a 62-year-old Canadian obstetrician woman from Orangeville. In August 2003, she was stabbed to death in a property dispute in Malabar Hills Flat, Mumbai. Asha Goyal, 40, an obstetrician and gynecologist who also worked in Saskatchewan was murdered amid a bitter dispute over the inheritance of $ 10 million (about 70 million) that pitted her against her brothers. “She wanted to broker peace between her brothers and was killed in cold blood,” Goyal said.

The Mumbai police believes that the four murderers were hired by Dr. Goyal’s warring brothers – Suresh and Subhash Aggarwal to kill their sister and make it look like suicide.

Suresh, who lived in India, died in November 2003. Subhash Aggarwal lives in Toronto as a Canadian citizen. He denies his involvement in Asha Goyal’s murder and in court’s documents he describes the police charges against him as “a vilification campaign”. About a month after Dr. Goyal’s murder, the Mumbai police arrested a suspected killer, but the case was inexplicably dropped.

Sanjay told, “We were angry with this information so in January 2004 this case was transferred to Mumbai Crime Branch.”

The case registered with Malabar police station and was later transferred to the Mumbai crime branch. However, since 2006, the case has been stuck in legal tangle in the higher courts.

In 2005, suspected accused Pradeep Parab had said in a confession filed by a magistrate that his brother Suresh Aggarwal had hired him to kill Asha Goyal.

He had also identified his aides P.K. Goenka, M. Shinde and Narenda Goyal (no relation to the victim).

After he was charged by the police, he listed Canadian brother Subhash Aggarwal as the “wanted accused”. Pradeep Parab became a witness after submitting a written statement, while another accused M. Shinde died.

In 2017, the magistrate court finally committed the case to the sessions court for trial following the Supreme Court’s directive.

Goyal said, “Two of the main accused have died and I have been told that some evidence has gone missing. We may never get justice if there is a further delay. Justice delayed is justice denied. I have been trying for 16 years, but I did not get any help from the Government of Canada to investigate or take action againstSubhash Aggarwal, who lives in Toronto. Despite being listed by Interpol for the murder, they (Interpol) call it an Indian case and say it doesn’t fall under their purview. My mother was a proud Canadian. She was an advocate for the protection and women’s health care system. But I did not get any help from Canadian government after her killing.”

Subhash Aggarwal, who is listed on the Interpol Red Notice website, says he is ready to talk to investigators in Canada but is not in favour of detention in India.

The son’s fight to bring justice to his mother is reminiscent of the long-running Canadian-British assassination incident involving Jasvinder Kaur Sidhu, a beautician from Maple Ridge in British Columbia.

Legal experts said that according to a report by the Vancouver-based South Asian Post, Dr Goyal and Jassi murder cases are among dozens of “NRI (non-resident Indian) contract murders” conducted by the convicts, who believe that India cannot extradite accused.

Reportedly, in many cases, poorly paid Indian policemen play a role in murders or help cover up evidence after they are paid in foreign dollars.

In most cases, broken marriages, illegal cases and property disputes are ordering NRIs to be killed.

It may be noted that in 2017, the main accused, Asha Goyal’s son-in-law, Narendra Goyal was released. Asha Goyal had 21 injury marks on her body.

In 2005, the magistrate’s court upheld the case in the sessions court. In 2006, when the court was supposed to frame charges against the accused, they went free from the case. But his sessions were dismissed by the sessions court in 2012. Today, for 16 years, Asha Goyal’s sons has come to India 89th times, seeking justice for his mother.

Mumbai : Mumbai Session Court to decide to Commence trial on hi-profile Dr.Asha Goel murder case on January 13 after 17 years, details here

Published: January 11, 2020, By Aleem Shaikh | Place: Mumbai | Agency: Hello Mumbai News

 

There has been an endless 17 years wait for justice with no trial and resolve to the case leading to the hi-profile murder of Canadian National in the medical profession, Dr Asha Goel.

Now comes a good news in sigh of relief to the family of the deceased that on January 13, the High Court is to decide on the commencement of the trial.

As yet, it is not clear who killed Dr. Asha Goel and who is the killer. Dr. Goel’s son Sanjay Goel, who is also a doctor himself, has flown to India from Canada atleast 80 times to pursue this matter. But the legal battle is getting entangled in a legal claim.

It is alleged that when Dr. Asha Goel had come to her brother Suresh Aggarwal’s house in Mumbai, Suresh Aggarwal along with his son-in-law Narendra Goel and two employees Manohar Shinde and Pawan Aggarwal who killed Asha Goel.
Accused Suresh Aggarwal and Manohar Shinde had expired during the trial itself. Asha Goel’s second brother Subhash Goel, a Canadian resident, is absconding. He also has a warrant from Interpol, but no action so far has been taken.

In this case, an employee named Pradeep Parab has been made a government witness.

Now an hearing has been fixed for January 13, in the Mumbai Session Court, in which the court will decide on starting a trial against the main accused in this case. Whereas in this case, accused Narendra Aggarwal was acquitted by the sessions court. He but was challenged by the government, on which the High Court rejected the decision of the lower court.

In the last hearing of the case on 22 December 2018, the Bombay High Court quashed a trial court order acquitting Narendra Goel, the main accused in the murder of Dr Asha Goel.

Police challenged the order of the trial court of 14 February 2016, in which Narendra Goel was acquitted.

Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thackeray said that Narendra Goel has cited that he was not in Mumbai on the night of 22 and 23 August 2003 and left for Delhi on the night of 22 August. Thackeray said that this defense needs to be investigated and this can only be done at the trial stage so that the prosecution is given an opportunity to verify the details.

Mukesh Vyas, counsel for Narendra Goel, says that there is no evidence to establish murder charges against Narendra Goel. Vyas further said that there is no evidence against Goel other than the witness’s statement that Parab had told the police that Narendra Goel had knowledge of the conspiracy.

Meanwhile Justice Mridula Bhatkar said that all the evidence and statements in this case should be thoroughly investigated and only then one can be acquitted.

News Edit by K.V.Raman

B.C. MAN MAKES 89TH TRIP TO INDIA TO SEEK JUSTICE FOR HIS MOTHER’S MURDER

Published: Friday, January 10, 2020, 12:30 By Mata Press Service | Agency: South Asian Post

For the 89th time in 16 years, Vancouver businessman Sanjay Goel is making a trek to India to seek justice for his murdered mother.

“I am hoping and praying that the justice system in India will not delay the case any longer,” said Goel, before his departure to Mumbai, for a trial management conference scheduled before Additional Sessions Judge N. T. Ghadge on Monday Jan 13 at 11.15 am.

“I have been working for 16 years to get justice for my mother who was murdered in India,” said Goel.

“As much as we want see justice done for my mother, we also want the accused to have their day in court.”

Goel’s mother, Dr. Asha Goel, a 62-year-old Canadian obstetrician from Orangeville, Ont. was stabbed and bludgeoned to death at her family’s ancestral home in August of 2003.

An obstetrician and gynaecologist of 40 years, who also practiced in Saskatchewan, Dr. Goel delivered more than 10,000 babies in Canada.

Her murder came in the midst of a bitter dispute over a $10 million family inheritance that had pitted her against her brothers.

“She was trying to broker peace among her brothers and was killed because of it,” said Goel.

Indian police believe that four assassins were hired by Dr. Goel’s warring brothers – Suresh and Subhash Agrawal – to kill their sister and make it look like a suicide.

Suresh, who was based in India died in November 2003. Subhash Agrawal lives as a Canadian citizen in the Toronto area, denies his involvement in the murder and describes the police allegations against him in court documents as “a vilification campaign.”

Indian police originally arrested one of the suspected assassins about a month after Dr. Goel’s murder, but the case was inexplicably dropped.

“We were outraged on learning this and got the filed transferred to the Mumbai Crime Branch in January 2004, which is an elite investigations unit,” said Goel, president of the Vancouver-based holiday company, Cruise Connections Canada.

In Sept. 2005, the suspect Pradeep Parab, in a confession recorded by a magistrate, said the dead brother, Suresh Agrawal, hired him to kill.

He also identified his accomplices as P.K. Goenka, M. Shinde and Narenda Goel (no relation to the victim). After police charged them, they listed the Canada-based brother Subhash Agrawal as a “wanted accused.”

Pradeep Parab has turned state witness after providing the written confession while another of the accused, M. Shinde, has died.

 “Two of the key accused have died and I have been told some of the evidence has gone missing…if we don’t get to trial soon, we may never get justice,” said Goel.

 “I have been trying for 16 years but I can’t get any help from the Canadian government to investigate or act on Subhash Agrawal who remains in the Toronto area,” said Goel.

“They keep saying it’s an Indian case and out of their hands despite him being listed by Interpol as wanted for murder.”

“My mother was Canadian, she was a proud Canadian…she was a defender of the health-care system and an advocate for women…but I can’t get any help from Canada to solve her murder.”

Subhash Agrawal who remains listed on the Interpol Red Notice website maintains he is willing to talk to investigators in Canada but not in a custodial environment in India.

Goel’s crusade to get justice for his mother is reminiscent of another long running Canada-India murder case involving the contract-killing of Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, a beautician from Maple Ridge in British Columbia.

Sidhu aka ‘Jassi’, 25, was killed in Punjab, India, in June 2000 after she defied her family to marry the man she loved – a poor rickshaw driver from her ancestral village.

Within days, Indian police arrested the assassins, who they said were hired by Jassi’s mother and uncle, living in Canada.

It took 18 years, several court cases in Canada, three documentaries, a made-for-TV movie, a website called justiceforjassi.com and a book, Justice for Jassi, before the pair was extradited to India on Jan. 25, 2019 to make their first appearance in a court in Malerkotla, Punjab.

Legal experts said the Dr. Goel and Jassi murder cases are among dozens of “NRI (Non-Resident Indian) contract killings” organised by culprits who believe that India cannot extradite them, according to a report in the Vancouver-based South Asian Post.

According to the report, in many of the cases, poorly paid Indian policemen play a role in the killings or help cover-up evidence after getting paid in overseas dollars.

In most cases, broken marriages, illicit affairs and property disputes are the main reasons why NRIs are ordering people killed.

The money involved in each contract killing, according to police officials, is anything between C$5,000 to C$125,000, the paper reported.

“NRIs sitting abroad think that they can get away with it by getting the crime committed in India through contract killers,” Jalandhar range deputy inspector general Narinder Pal Singh, was quoted as saying in the South Asian Post in the expose on the NRI contract killings.

Who’s who in the murder case of Dr. Asha Goel

Dr. Asha Goel, a Canadian obstetrician was found murdered at her family’s ancestral home in the ritzy Malabar Hills area of Mumbai, India in August of 2003. She was trying to solve a dispute between her brothers over their parent’s $10-million estate.

Sanjay Goel is the Vancouver businessman and son of Dr. Asha Goel who has been fighting for the last 16 years to get justice for his murdered mother.

Suresh Agrawal: Dr. Goel’s brother in Mumbai, described as one of the architects of the murder. He died in November 2003.

Subhash Agrawal: Another of Dr. Goel’s brothers. He is a Toronto-area resident and Canadian citizen. Agrawal, who has denied the allegations, remains listed on the Interpol Red Notice website as wanted for murder in India.

Alleged hired killers charged in India

Pradeep Parab: Employee of Suresh Agrawal. (turned state witness)

Narendra Goel: Son-in-law of Suresh Agrawal (not related to Dr. Goel)

Manohar Shinde: Manager of one of Suresh Agrawal’s properties. (deceased)

Pawankumar Goenka: Subhash Agrawal’s property manager in India.

Kin discharged in murder of Canada-based doctor in 2003

Published: Tuesday, Feb 21, 2017, 6:04 IST By Rebecca Samervel | Place: Mumbai | Agency: India Times

MUMBAI: Sixteen years after a doctor, who was visiting from Canada, was found murdered in a Malabar Hill flat, a sessions court has cleared a family member of all charges after it found he was not even in the city at the time of the murder.  

Granting relief to Narendra Goel, 66, the son-in-law of the victim’s brother, the court took into account a travel certificate issued by an airline Goel used to travel to Delhi and the roznama of the Tees Hazari court, where Goel had appeared on August 23, 2003, for a hearing.       

The case was registered at Malabar Hill police station on August 23, 2003, by Sureshchandra Agrawal, brother of the victim, obstetrician Asha Goel, 60. He had told the cops that Asha arrived in the city the day before and retired to the guest room of his house at 10 pm. He discovered her lying on the floor in a pool of blood the following morning. She was declared dead.       

Parab, the night manager of a Bhuleshwar lodge run by Sureshchandra, was the first to be arrested after the killing, and based on his information, three others -Pawankumar Goenka, Manohar Shinde and Narendra Goel -were arrested over time. Pointing out that Parab had mentioned Goel in 2005 -two years after the murder, the court, in detailed 30-page order said: “Since there is no incriminating material agains this applicant (Goel), charges cannot be framed merely because the procesution has converted the main perpetrator of crime to the star witness of the prosecution and that too after a long period of the incident and after filing of the chargesheet.”           

It emerged that Goel had come to India to sort out a proper ty dispute between her brothers, Subhash and Sureshchandra. Asha wanted to ensure that her third brother, Shekhar, got his dues. Sureshchandra and Canada-based Subhash were accused of plotting the murder with the other accused. Sureshchandra, Goel’s father-in-law, died in 2004, and Subhash is shown as absconding.      

The court said it was only after reading about a Rs 10-lakh reward information on the culprit that Parab made a confessional statement. He named Goel as being present in the conspiracy meeting. 

Referring to the 109 witnesses, the court said none of them had attributed any role to Goel. The report of Goel’s narco test was not filed by the prosecution. “There was no motive attributed to this applicant. Only because he is a son-in-law of deceased suspect (Sureshchandra), no presumption arises that he would have participated in the conspiracy,” the court said.     

Prime accused in Canadian national Asha Goel’s murder discharged

By Yogesh Naik and Sharmeen Hakim, Mumbai Mirror Updated: Feb 20, 2017, 07:54 IST

Court discharges alleged co-conspirator in Canadian national​ ​Dr Asha Goel​’s​ ​murder case

Source: DNA | Updated: Sunday, Feb 19, 2017, 07:45 AM IST

Narendra Goel is the son-in-law of Suresh and was arrested two years after the crime on​ ​the confessional statement made by alleged killer Pradeep Parab

 

 

In a major relief to 66-year-old South Mumbai resident Narendra Goel​ ​who was charged of being a co-conspirator in the gruesome murder of a Canadian national, Dr Asha Goel, in 2003, a sessions court on February​ ​14, has discharged him of the charges levied, holding that prosecution is unable to bring forth any incriminating material against him.

Dr Goel, 62, was murdered on August 14, 2003​ ​at her​ ​brother Suresh Agarwal’s (now deceased) residence in Malabar Hill. Police found 21 injuries on her body, including a massive head injury,​ ​a broken jaw, a ruptured liver and numerous stab wounds. Narendra is the son-in-law of Suresh and was arrested two years after the crime on​ ​the confessional statement made by alleged killer Pradeep Parab.

Additional Sessions Judge, S K S Razvi while discharging Goel said​ ​ “Charges against the accused cannot be framed merely because the prosecution has converted the main perpetrator of crime as star​ ​witness of the prosecution a​n​ d that to​o​ after ​a ​long period of the incident and after filing of the chargesheet.”

Goel had filed a discharge application through his advocate Advocate​ ​Amit Jajoo and Advocate Mukesh Vatsa stating that he was being wrongly​ ​and belatedly charged in the case.​ The​ case has seen a lot of up and​ ​down over the years​.​

​The family of the deceased in 2005, even announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh to ​anyone who secure​d​ the conviction​ ​of the arrested accused, following which Parab made a voluntary statement to record his confessional statement and get the reward.

Since 2006, the case has been stuck in ​a ​legal tangle in the higher​ ​courts. Last year​,​ the magistrate court finally committed the case to the session’s court for trial following the Supreme Court’s directive.

The case which was transferred to the crime branch from the police has​ ​four people named as accused ​- ​Goel, Pradeep Parab, Pawankumar​ ​Goenka and Manohar Shinde. The prosecution had alleged that the​ ​accused took care of properties belonging to the Agarwals and were ​allegedly paid by one of the brothers. Of the four accused, Parab has​ ​been declared as an approver in the case. While one of the accused​ ​Subhash Agarwal (main conspirator) is wanted in the case.

Written By

Mustafa Plumber 

13 years after Canadian doctor’s murder in Mumbai, trial to start

Source: Hindustan Times | Published: Sunday, Nov 07, 2016 00:58 IST by Charul Shah

Thirteen years after the gruesome murder of a Canadian national, Dr Asha Goel, the case has finally been committed to the sessions court for a trial against her relatives. Dr Goel, 62, was murdered on August 14, 2003. She was murdered at her brother Suresh Agarwal’s residence in Malabar Hill. Police found 21 injuries on her body, including a massive head injury, a broken jaw, a ruptured liver and numerous stab wounds.

The case was registered with Malabar police station and was later transferred to the Mumbai crime branch. However, since 2006, the case has been stuck in legal tangle in the higher courts. Last month, the magistrate court finally committed the case to the sessions court for trial following the Supreme Court’s directive.

Following investigation, the crime branch booked four people: Narendra Goel, Agarwal’s son-in-law, Pradeep Parab, Pawankumar Goenka and Manohar Shinde. The prosecution had alleged that the accused took care of properties belonging to the Agarwals and were allegedly paid by one of the brothers.

Of the four accused, Parab has been declared as an approver in the case.

In 2005, the magistrate’s court had committed the case for a trial to the sessions court. In 2006, when the court was to frame the charges against the accused, they moved for discharge from the case. But the sessions court rejected their plea in 2012. The same year, all remaining accused moved the Bombay high court, contending that the magistrate’s court had failed to follow the procedure while declaring Parab as an approver. They alleged that Parab was not examined as a witness by the magistrate’s court while declaring him as an approver.

Realising the error, the prosecution moved an application before the sessions court to remand the case back to the magistrate’s court. The plea was accepted and the case was remitted to the magistrate’s court in 2012. Later, when the prosecution examined Parab as witness, the accused sought for his cross examination. Although the prosecution objected to defence’s plea, the court allowed Parab’s cross-examination. The issue later was challenged by the prosecution. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court in September this year asked the magistrate’s court to commit the case for trial to the sessions court.

After 13 years of chasing justice, Goels of Canada still await murder trial

Updated: Tuesday, Jun 14, 2016, 11:59 IST By Lata Mishra | Place: Mumbai | Agency: Mumbai Mirror

• •  

    Key Highlights

  • -Having striven for 13 years to bring the killers of Canada-based doctor Asha Goel to book, the Goels have made 73 visits to India to pursue the case.

  • -The family members had started an online petition asking for speedy trial, and some 10,000 people have signed it so far.

  • -The family has now made a fresh application to the court, seeking to start the trial.

(This story originally appeared in  on Jun 14, 2015)

Mumbai: Ever since Canada-based doctor Asha Goel was murdered in 2003, her family members have been flying down to Mumbai 73 times in their tireless, and frustrating, pursuit of justice

Having striven for thirteen years to bring the killers of Canada-based doctor Asha Goel to book, the Goels are now tired: tired of exhorting the Indian and Canadian authorities to nail the killers, tired of flying back and forth between Canada and Mumbai, tired of waiting for the trial to begin.

But the long years, during which Asha’s family has made 73 visits to India to pursue the case, haven’t shaken their resolve. <br>If justice delayed is justice denied, the Goels have been denied it ever since August 23, 2003, when Asha, 60, was found brutally murdered in an apartment in Malabar Hill. She had come down to visit her ailing brother Suresh Agarwal.

The crime branch, which took over the case from Malabar Hill police, had filed a charge-sheet according to which Asha was killed over a property feud. Four persons were arrested — Pawankumar Goenka, Manohar Shinde, Pradeep Parab, and Suresh Agarwal’s son-in-law Narendra; all are out on bail.

“When the crime branch put the accused behind bars,we thought my mother would get justice. But it was only the start of a long struggle. Instead of making the case watertight, the police asked us to meet politicians, activists and others who could help in the case. We wondered what our role is in strengthening the case, but we went and met everyone because we want justice,” said 52-year-old Sanjay Goel, Asha’s eldest son, who lives in Vancouver.

Her family has worked tirelessly to ensure the case remains open and active. “We have to spend tens of lakhs on flights and legal aid, staying in hotels each time we have come to Mumbai,” said Sanjay, who runs a cruise touring and travel agency.

He said the family has to battle an extremely dilatory system to push the case forward. “We have to file a petition in the high court to move the case along. Even for DNA testing, which was not done in Mumbai around 2003.” The sleuths had recovered blood-stained clothes from two of the accused, Goenka and Parab. “Chief inspector of Mumbai police’s crime branch, Jayawant Hargude, took the samples to Toronto for DNA testing, and we paid for the expenses as per court order,” he said.

SLOW-MOVING JUSTICE

The family found a faint ray of hope when, after years of struggle, on June 9, 2014, the high court directed that trial be completed within six months. But the trial has not even commenced. “The continual delay has been contributed to by the defence’s stalling tactics,” said Michael Alper, Asha’s son-in-law.

During this time, Suresh Agarwal, also accused in the case, died of a kidney ailment. Suresh’s brother Subhash, who resided in Canada and is also an accused, is said to be absconding. But Sanjay thinks otherwise: “My uncle Subhash is not absconding, he is in Canada. Canadian cops are not arresting him, they told us that the crime took place in India so they can’t do anything. This is ridiculous.”

“It’s not just the Indian investigating authorities. I also blame Ottawa police for not helping us,” said Sanjay. Urging law enforcement agencies in both the countries to cooperate in the investigation. “Canadian authorities have a critical role to play in the case resolution, and we request them to carry out their own full investigation so the whole truth is uncovered, whether the evidence is in India or in Canada. We requested them to place pressure on the Indian authorities to see this case through” Said Alper, “We need justice. The crime branch provided enough evidence which proved that my mother was killed, but the accused are yet to be punished.”

The family has left no avenue untouched in their search for justice. They started an online petition asking for speedy trial, and some 10,000 people have signed it so far.

73RD TIME UNLUCKY

Alper and Sanjay, who find themselves halfway across the globe, in Mumbai, yet again to follow up on the case, have made a fresh application to the court, seeking to start the trial. “This is our 73rd visit to India to meet cops and lawyers,” said Sanjay. “Earlier I used to visit with my father, Sadan Goel. He is 80 years old now and cannot travel all the way to Mumbai, but he keeps asking me, ‘When will your mother get justice?’” Sadan Goel continues to stay in Toronto.

“My mother was a doctor. She saved so many lives. She doesn’t deserve such a death,” Sanjay added sombrely.

Asha had moved to Canada with her husband in 1963, where they completed their medical training and raised their three children. They stayed in Toronto, and she practised obstetrics and gynaecology for 40 years in Saskatchewan and in Ontario.

After Asha Goel’s death, the disputed Malabar Hill property was sealed. “The Malabar hill property is worth Rs 20 crore. My mother was never keen on taking her share. She was in Mumbai to tell Suresh and Subhash Agarwal to give the share to their younger brother, Shekhar, which they were hesitant to do,” Sanjay said.

But it isn’t that the family isn’t grateful for the help they have got from Indian cops “I would like to thank Rakesh Maria, formerly of the crime branch, Meeran Borvankar and investigating officer Hargude. Because of them, the conspiracy came to light,” said Alper, an advocate who practises in the US.. 

Kin await justice in 12-year-old murder

Published: Tuesday, Dec 15, 2015, 2:44 IST By TNN | Place: Mumbai | Agency: Times of India

The Canada-based Goel family is tired of running from pillar to post to get justice in the murder of their kin Dr Asha Goel (60). Asha, who had visited Mumbai 12 years ago to see her ailing brother Suresh Agarwal, had been brutally murdered. The Malabar Hill police registered a murder case and the case was transferred to the city crime branch. 

Asha, a Canada-based doctor, was found murdered in a flat on Malabar Hill on August 23, 2003. The murder was allegedly because of a dispute over the family property. Crime branch unit two arrested Pawankumar Goenka, Manohar Shinde and Pradeep Parab, along with Suresh Agarwal’s son-in-law Narendra, but he was granted bail after being jailed for some time at Arthur Road. Subhash, another brother, who resided in Canada was an accused in the case, but was never arrested.

Asha’s son-in-law Michael Alper said, “12 years have passed and in spite of the progress in the investigations, the case has never come up for trial. My father-in-law S K Goel, who is nearly 80 years old is losing patience. This is unacceptable.”

10-year fight for justice hits roadblock

Source: The Province | Published: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 by Larissa Cahute

Canadian police close file on woman’s murder

Sanjay Goel, seen in 2007 holding a photo of his mother, Dr. Asha Goel, has travelled to India more than 50 times since her 2003 death. Ottawa police have concluded a review into their handling of her death.

After a nearly seven-month review, Ottawa police announced Tuesday that they “properly” investigated the murder of a Canadian citizen found stabbed, bludgeoned and smothered in her brother’s Indian apartment nearly 10 years ago.

But to Dr. Asha Goel’s grieving son, this “simply makes no sense.” “I’m flabbergasted—I’m shocked and dismayed,” said Vancouver businessman Sanjay Goel, who’s been back and forth to India more than 50 times since his mother’s death. “I can’t imagine how they have come to that conclusion.”

Goel’s mom, chief obstetrician at the Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville, Ont., travelled to Mumbai to visit her sick brother, Suresh Agrawal, in 2003. Indian investigators alleged Suresh conspired with his brother in Ottawa, Subhash Agrawal, to kill their 62-year-old sister over a disputed inheritance worth $12 million. Suresh has since died, but Subhash — a Canadian citizen — remains at large in Ottawa.

In an October 2012 interview with the CBC, a former Ottawa police officer said his superiors instructed him not to conduct an official probe in 2003 — which pushed Ottawa police to reopen their case for review on Oct. 19, 2012. “The review found that this matter was handled properly by the Ottawa Police Service,” Ottawa police said in Tuesday’s news release. “(It) found that at no time was there a decision made to cease involvement in this case.” Furthermore, the release states the crime should only be investigated by Indian police.

“The crime occurred in India and the majority of the witnesses and evidence rests in that country,” the statement reads. “Therefore, it would be inappropriate … to pursue charges in Canada.” But this won’t suffice for Goel. “It’s not possible for it to be an Indian crime,” he said. “It happened here in Canada. While the actual crime of murder happened in India, the planning and the ordering of it — according to Indian police and their public documents, the charge sheet — happened in Canada.”

And according to Goel, further developments have been made in the Indian probe — Goel’s been told Subhash has received a visa and will be travelling to India to appear in court by the end of the month. “All of this has happened and the Ottawa police can’t even open a file?” he said.

COPS REOPEN DOCTOR’S MURDER CASE AFTER 9 YEARS

Source: Asian Pacifi Post | Published: Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 17:44 by Asingh

Canadian police close file on woman’s murder

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 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 worlwide have signed a petition urging the Canadian government to ensure that all avenues of investigation are pursued, and additionally to “compel the Indian Government to commit the necessary resources to solve this case.”

Canadian police held off on phone records crucial to India slaying, PI says

Published: Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 5:42 AM ET by John Lancaster, Anu Singh, and Pras Rajagopalan | Place: Toronto | Agency: CBC News Toronto

Canadian authorities didn’t act on phone records presented to them years ago crucial to the probe of an Ontario doctor’s slaying in India in 2003, a private investigator says. 

The records were pertinent to the investigation into the slaying of Dr. Asha Goel, who was found dead from severe injuries in her brother’s Mumbai apartment on Aug. 23, 2003, says Dave Wilson, the investigator.

Wilson said the records revealed phone calls between Mumbai and Ottawa just before Goel’s death. The Mumbai number was registered to her brother, Suresh Agrawal, who Mumbai police implicated in the homicide. The Ottawa number was registered to another brother, Subhash Agrawal.

Subhash Agrawal, who resides in Ottawa, was not in India at the time of the homicide and has not been investigated or charged by Canadian authorities.

Wilson, a retired RCMP officer, was hired in 2005 by the family of the doctor, who had worked as the chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville, Ont.

Mumbai police believe Subhash Agrawal conspired with Suresh Agrawal, who died of natural causes just after Goel’s death, to kill her. They issued a warrant for Subhash Agrawal’s arrest in 2006, but he has appealed and the matter is before the courts in India.

In addition to the Agrawal brothers, Mumbai police have implicated three other men.

Police in Mumbai allege the motive for Goel’s killing was her intervention in a dispute over her father’s multimillion dollar estate. Goel’s family alleges the two brothers wanted to split the estate between themselves, leaving nothing for a third brother.

Subhash Agrawal has denied he had anything to do with Goel’s death and said in a statement to CBC News that he had “absolutely no financial gain which could flow as a consequence of her murder.”

“These allegations, made by other family members, that I should be investigated or charged, are utterly false and without merit, and unsupported by any evidence whatsoever over the past nine years,” he wrote.

As CBC News reported last month, Mumbai police said they have made repeated requests to the Canadian government for Agrawal’s bank and phone records, but have had no co-operation from Canadian authorities.

‘Flurry’ of calls

“And then it stopped,” the PI said in an interview.

“We’re only talking about four or five days, but there are several phone calls in that period of time,” he said.

Wilson added there might have been “a call two months later,” but nothing like the frequency of calls that took place before Goel was killed.

The reason for those calls “should be looked into, that’s for sure,” the former Mountie said.

Wilson said he turned the documents over to Ottawa police and the RCMP sometime in either 2005 or 2006. But neither police force responded or actively pursued the matter, he said.

Wilson acknowledged police would have to obtain a search warrant in order to obtain those same phone records for use in court. But that process, he said, is “very simple.”

Part of the problem, Wilson said, is that law enforcement agencies didn’t co-operate. The RCMP told him Ottawa police should investigate, while Ottawa police said they wouldn’t investigate, but would assist Indian authorities if they applied for information through diplomatic channels.

The federal Department of Justice, meanwhile, thought Ottawa police should be investigating, Wilson said.

“There was ample ground for them to commence an investigation of conspiracy and the frustrating thing is everybody is waiting for someone else to do something,” he said.

“Everybody sounded like they wanted to help, but it was always the other guy’s problem,” Wilson said.

Ottawa police urged in internal memo to arrest Agrawal

Former Ottawa police homicide investigator Ken Doyle tried to help. CBC News has uncovered an internal police memo he wrote to his superiors on Jan. 7, 2006, in which he says he believed there was enough evidence to arrest Subhash Agrawal.

But Ottawa police ignored his recommendations.

Based on what was presented to Doyle by Indian investigators, he thought “there was sufficient evidence to warrant [Subhash Agrawal’s] arrest, and [for him] to be brought before a court to determine guilt or innocence,” he said.

“And I continually say: I’m not suggesting he’s guilty, that’s for a court to determine. But the evidence that was presented to me would suggest there was certainly sufficient evidence.”

Ottawa police have said they were aware of the Goel case, but were unable to formally investigate without backing from the federal Department of Justice.

But the Justice Department told CBC News that “departmental officials expressly advised the Ottawa Police Service in 2006 that they do not require the approval of the Department of Justice to pursue a domestic investigation into Mr. Agrawal.”

After CBC News reported that Doyle was told by his superiors not to investigate the case further, Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau ordered a review on Oct. 19 of all documents pertaining to the force’s involvement in the homicide probe.

That review is still ongoing, Ottawa police said.

The RCMP refused to comment on the case.

Family Of Murdered Indo-Canadian Doctor In India Says Suspect Walks Free In Canada While Government Fails To Act

Published: Sunday, October 21, 2012, By admin | Place: Canada | Agency: The Link Paper

Asha Goel, a Canadian citizen, was found dead – the victim of extensive trauma — on August 23, 2003 while visiting family in Mumbai, India. But one of the men wanted in connection to her death, Goel’s brother Subhash Agrawal, lives in Ottawa and has yet to be questioned about the matter, reported CBC News.

OTTAWA – A lack of co-operation from Canadian authorities has stalled an investigation into the grisly slaying of an Ontario doctor just over nine years ago, say Indian authorities, CBC News reported.

Asha Goel, a Canadian citizen, was found dead – the victim of extensive trauma — on August 23, 2003 while visiting family in Mumbai, India. But one of the men wanted in connection to her death, Goel’s brother Subhash Agrawal, lives in Ottawa and has yet to be questioned about the matter.

“Subhash Agrawal is wanted for us … he is wanted for murder and conspiracy of murder” Jaywant Hargude, the assistant commissioner of Mumbai police, told CBC News.

That same year, Interpol issued a red notice for Agrawal, which is an international alert for a wanted fugitive when an arrest warrant is issued and is seen as a means to extradition. The notice was later withdrawn, although Interpol won’t say exactly when.

Agrawal has appealed the arrest warrant, and the matter is still before Indian courts. He has never been formally charged. But Mumbai police say their investigation and the appeal process have been stymied because the Canadian government isn’t co-operating.

“We hope that [the] Canadian government will provide us information as early as possible because this investigation is delayed because of them because we are not getting the information in time. That is our problem” said Hargude, who was leading the investigation into Goel’s death.

A Canadian police source with knowledge of the case told CBC News that he believes authorities here have never questioned Agrawal on the matter.

“As with all such matters, we cannot discuss confidential state-to-state communications.”

Severe injuries

The autopsy report regarding Asha Goel’s death states that the primary injury causing death was a major fracture to the skull or orbital region.

Goel’s family claims they later learned from police Goel was stabbed multiple times with a vegetable peeler, paring knife, and two marble tiles that were smashed against her head. Goel’s body and face were badly beaten: she had two missing teeth, a broken nose, jaw, and was blinded in one eye.

“We all have the memory of our mother’s eyes, and their warm face, their smile. Those things were destroyed. Even when we cremated her and people did their best to cover up her injuries, it was ghastly” said the victim’s son, Sanjay Goel.

“I have never had anything to do with the death of my sister, Dr. Asha Goel, whom I loved dearly,” Subhash Agrawal wrote in a statement to CBC News. “Others stood to gain enormously from her death, both financially and otherwise. I had absolutely no financial gain which should flow as a consequence of her murder.”

Agrawal, a businessman based in Ottawa, declined an interview request.

A dispute worth millions

Asha Goel’s husband, Sadan Goel, says she was the peacemaker in the family but was upset that two of her brothers — Suresh and Subhash Agrawal — had decided to split their late father’s multi-million dollar inheritance amongst themselves, leaving the youngest brother with nothing.

His wife warned her brothers in an ongoing family dispute that she believed they had produced a fake will, and that if they didn’t share the inheritance with their third brother, she and her three sisters would stake a claim, he said.

Indian law gives women the right to equal inheritance but it’s customary for sons to claim paternal properties. A commonly held belief is that daughters will reap the benefits of their husband’s fortunes.

Goel hoped to resolve the family dispute during her visit to India in the summer of 2003, just after her youngest daughter’s wedding. But instead, her son says, there was a heated argument between her and Suresh Agrawal. Goel left Suresh Agrawal’s home in the tony Malbar Hill area of Mumbai very upset. Subhash was not in the country at the time.

On Aug. 22, the day before Goel’s flight home, Suresh Agrawal apologized, and asked his sister to spend her last night in India at his home. She agreed.

The next morning Goel was found dead in the guest room she was sleeping in at her brother’s apartment. She was 63.

Suresh Agrawal first told the Goel family he thought Asha committed suicide. Hargude said the injuries Goel suffered indicate that a suicide was highly unlikely. Police initially deemed it a robbery but there didn’t appear to be a clear motive, and very little property — some of Goel’s jewelry and a camera — was stolen.

“[The] ultimate motive behind this murder was a property dispute, and we have come to this conclusion. We have put the case before the court with this motive behind the murder,” said Hargude.

Arrest warrant issued in 2006

Mumbai police arrested one of the Agrawal brothers’ employees, Pradeep Prabhakar Parab, a month after Asha’s death and charged him with murder.

In Oct. 2005, Pawankumar Goenka, Manohar Shinde and Narendra Goel — Suresh Agrawal’s son-in-law —were charged with murder. Police also implicated Asha’s brother Suresh in planning her killing, but he died of natural causes a month after the homicide.

Subhash Agrawal was asked repeatedly to submit to questioning by Mumbai police starting in November 2005. He did not comply, and in August 2006 Mumbai police issued an arrest warrant for him.

“Servants of this Subhash Agrawal in India were arrested and their involvement is clear in this murder, and once these servants are involved in this case ultimately there is somebody from the family who has provided all this money, and all this planning to the servants to kill Asha Goel,” said Hargude.

Hargude also told CBC News the night of Goel’s death there were calls between Subhash Agrawal, his brother Suresh, and the servants implicated. Questionable money transfers between exist, said Hargude, who added he could not provide further details because of the ongoing investigation.

And Subhash Agrawal is paying for the legal costs of the men accused of killing his sister, says Hargude.

As a result, Mumbai police say they have asked Canadian authorities for Agrawal’s phone and bank records in Ottawa. Canadian authorities received the first formal request for help in Sept. 2006, but Hargude says they have shared no information to date.

But Asha’s family says they contacted Canadian authorities well before the formal Sept. 2006 communication.

Sanjay Goel alleges Subhash was granted citizenship sometime in 2005, he says even after the Canadian government was asked by the Indian government to not grant him citizenship because he was a suspect in Asha’s slaying.

The Goel family says they feel betrayed by the Canadian government.

“I feel that my country has abandoned me. They don’t care. That makes me sad. Is this the country which I served? Is this the country where I gave my youth and my whole adult life? Is this country where my wife served?” said Sadan Goel, Asha’s widower in an interview.

Sadan, now 74, is a retired general surgeon. Asha and he moved to Canada in 1963, when he was 25, and Asha was 23. The couple practiced medicine in Regina and Ontario for almost 40 years. Asha Goel has delivered over 10,000 Canadian babies, the family estimates.

Asha Goel worked as chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Headwater Health centre in Orangeville, Ont., a position she had held since she moved there with her family from Regina in 1987.

“She was a fireball, she loved to work. We always knew when she hit the ward, because it was like, ‘Okay I’m here, let’s go girls,’” said old friend and colleague Mary Jane White.

When she first heard of Goel’s slaying, she “sobbed for hours and hours.”

She says Asha’s husband was a “broken man” after his wife’s death.

“It’s impossible to replace a person. She wasn’t just my life partner, she’s a friend, a mother of my children,” said Sadan Goel. He says his family has been fight for justice for nine years. They’ve knocked on the doors of Ottawa police, RCMP, multiple MPs, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Department of Justice for help.

“The Canadians told me that this is an Indian problem. The crime has taken place over there and they should be looking into it, and if they need our help, we will do it,” said Goel.

Courtesy CBC New

Ottawa police to review actions in India murder probe

By Pras Rajagopalan, John Lancaster & Anu Singh, CBC News Posted: Oct 19, 2012 5:20 PM ET

​Ottawa’s police chief has ordered a review of all records pertaining to the force’s involvement in the murder investigation of an Ontario doctor who was found dead in her brother’s apartment in India nine years ago.

The order by Chief Charles Bordeleau comes after CBC News reported Ken Doyle, a former homicide investigator with Ottawa police, said he was instructed by his superiors in the Ottawa police service not to further investigate the case of Dr. Asha Goel. Goel was found dead and suffering from severe injuries in the apartment of her brother, Suresh Agrawal, in Mumbai on Aug. 23, 2003.

The CBC story has also prompted meetings and discussions led by the chief.

Doyle was contacted by the Goel family in 2004 to assist them with the case. Mumbai police believe another one of Goel’s brothers, Ottawa resident Subhash Agrawal, helped conspire to kill her. In 2006, Mumbai police issued a warrant for his arrest.

Agrawal, who has not been formally charged, appealed the warrant and the matter is now before the courts in India.

“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 CBC News. “I’m not suggesting [Agrawal] is guilty of any crime. But they seem to have the evidence in India to request an extradition order.”

Indian police said they have made repeated requests to the Canadian government for Agrawal’s bank and phone records in Canada, but have had no co-operation from Canadian authorities.

“I’m really disturbed by this whole story that has come out,” said NDP immigration critic Jinny Simms.

“Here we have a Canadian doctor who went to India on a holiday and while she is there she is murdered and now we have the India police accusing our authorities of not co-operating, and that really concerns me. My question is: Why are we not co-operating?”

Ottawa police say they’ve looked into the Goel case, but were unable to investigate until a formal request is made by Indian government for an extradition and the Canadian government accepts it.

The investigation remains in the hands of Indian authorities until the Department of Justice approaches India and approves a domestic investigation, Ottawa police have said. However, Ottawa police spokesman Marc Soucy has said that police have sent an investigator to India, but couldn’t identify the individual and couldn’t say when he or she might have travelled to India.

Doyle has flown to India to speak with Indian investigators, but that was on his own time after he retired from Ottawa police in January 2008.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the Justice Department said it “has no authority to instruct Canadian police on whether or not to conduct an investigation.”

It added, “in relation to the death of Dr. Goel, departmental officials expressly advised the Ottawa Police Service in 2006 that they do not require the approval of the Department of Justice to pursue a domestic investigation into Mr. Agrawal.”

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson told CBC News that Canada is co-operating with Indian investigators “and we will continue to do so.”

A spokeswoman from the Justice Department said she could not reveal additional details about “confidential state-to-state communications.”

Agrawal has denied he had anything to do with Goel’s death.

“These allegations, made by other family members, that I should be investigated or charged, are utterly false and without merit, and unsupported by any evidence whatsoever over the past nine years,” he said.

Ottawa police chief orders review of 2003 international homicide investigation

BY CHLOÉ FEDIO, OTTAWA CITIZEN

OTTAWA — Chief Charles Bordeleau has ordered a review of the Ottawa Police Service’s role in the murder investigation of an Ontario doctor who found stabbed and beaten to death in her brother’s apartment in India in 2003.

​Dr. Asha Goel was photographed at her daughter Seema’s wedding weeks before he was killed in Mumbai, India, in 2003.Dr. Asha Goel was the chief obstetrician at the Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville when she travelled to Mumbai to visit her sick brother, Suresh Agrawal.

Indian investigators alleged that Suresh conspired with his brother in Ottawa, Subhash Agrawal, and four other men to kill their 62-year-old sister.

Nine years later, Bordeleau said the case is being reviewed after a former Ottawa officer told the CBC that his superiors told him not to investigate the case further.

“I have ordered a review based on news stories that have appeared on CBC involving a retired Ottawa Police Service officer,” Bordeleau told the Citizen via email Friday evening. “That is all we have to say at this point.”

Former 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.

Goel’s immediate family told the Citizen in 2007 that she had been trying to solve a dispute between her three brothers over their father’s estate, worth as much as $12 million.

At the time, Subhash Agrawal told the Citizen that no amount of money or property would entice him to kill his sister, whom he loved dearly.

“No one in the family would have murdered her,” he said.

Indian authorities had issued a warrant for his arrest and Interpol had also issued a red notice to assist in locating and arresting the suspect.Doyle, then a sergeant, said Ottawa police could not act until Indian police obtained an extradition warrant.

With files from Andrew Seymour

cfedio@ottawacitizen.com

twitter.com/cfedio

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

DR. ASHA GOEL’S 2003 MURDER: FAMILY STILL AWAITS JUSTICE AS INDIAN POLICE BLAMES CANADA FOR NOT COOPERATING

CLICK HERE to read the original article

Back in August 2003, Sanjay Goel appealed to the Canadian government to put pressure on the Indian government to ensure that they did a professional job in hunting for the killer(s) of his mother Dr. Asha Goel, 62, chief of obstetrics at an Ontario hospital. She was found in a pool of blood at her brother’s house in Mumbai on August 23, 2003.

A Mumbai newspaper said at the time that police suspected robbery was the motive because a gold ring and about $3,000 in cash were missing. She was visiting her brother, who had started kidney dialysis, and his wife, who had suffered a stroke. Sanjay felt that the city police were too busy dealing with the bombings in that city that killed 46 and injured 150 to pay proper attention to her murder and that evidence had been lost because of poor handling.

A Foreign Affairs spokesperson in Ottawa said at the time that the government was “responding appropriately.” The victim’s husband was a surgeon at the same Ontario hospital where she worked.

Today, another picture of the murder has emerged and Indian authorities told CBC News that it is the Canadian government’s lack of cooperation that has stalled their investigation because one of the suspects they want to question is the victim’s brother Subhash Agrawal, 63, a businessman who lives in Ottawa, and for whom they issued an arrest warrant in 2006.

Mumbai Police Assistant Commissioner Jaywant Hargude told CBC that Agrawal is wanted “for murder and conspiracy of murder.”

CBC reported that Agrawal has appealed the arrest warrant in an Indian court and that he has not been formally charged.

A spokeswoman with the Canadian Department of Justice told CBC: “We are aware of the murder of Dr. Goel and are prepared to assist India in any way that we can.”

CBC reported that Subhash Agrawal in a statement told them: “I have never had anything to do with the death of my sister, Dr. Asha Goel, whom I loved dearly. Others stood to gain enormously from her death, both financially and otherwise. I had absolutely no financial gain which should flow as a consequence of her murder.”

But Mumbai police claim they have evidence to show Agrawal’s involvement.

According to CBC, “Asha Goel’s husband, Sadan Goel, says she was the peacemaker in the family but was upset that two of her brothers — Suresh and Subhash Agrawal — had decided to split their late father’s multi-million dollar inheritance amongst themselves, leaving the youngest brother with nothing.”

Asha Goel tried to resolve the issue and it’s believed that her death resulted from that.

Police at first thought that robbery was the motive for the murder.

Hargude told CBC:  “[The] ultimate motive behind this murder was a property dispute, and we have come to this conclusion.”

Mumbai police charged one of the Agrawal brothers’ employees with murder. In 2005, Pawankumar Goenka, Manohar Shinde and Narendra Goel — Suresh Agrawal’s son-in-law —were charged with murder. Police also implicated the victim’s brother Suresh in planning her killing, but he died of natural causes a month after the homicide, the CBC reported.

Subhash Agrawal refused to be questioned by Mumbai police and an arrest warrant was issued for him in August 2006.

Hargude told CBC that there were calls between Subhash Agrawal, his brother Suresh, and the servants implicated. He claimed that there were money transfers. Also, Subhash Agrawal is paying for the legal costs of the men accused of killing his sister.

Although Mumbai police asked the Canadian authorities for Agrawal’s phone and bank records in Ottawa back in 2006, they have provided no information, Hargude told CBC.

On Thursday, CBC reported that Ken Doyle, a former Ottawa Police homicide investigator, says he was told years ago not to investigate the murder, although he believes there’s enough evidence to justify Agrawal’s extradition.

But Agrawal, who runs an Ottawa residence that provides housing for university students, told CBC: “These allegations, made by other family members, that I should be investigated or charged, are utterly false and without merit, and unsupported by any evidence whatsoever over the past nine years.”

Ex-officer told to drop probe of Canadian killed in India

Source: CBC News | Published: Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 6:08 PM ET by Anu Singh John Lancaster and Pras Rajagopalan

Indian arrest warrant for Ottawa resident issued in 2006

A former Ottawa homicide investigator says he was told years ago not to investigate the brutal slaying of an Ontario doctor in India, despite his belief that there is enough evidence to justify the extradition of an Ottawa man for whom Mumbai police have issued an arrest warrant.

Asha 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.

Police in Mumbai allege the motive for Goel’s killing was her intervention in an dispute over the family partiarch’s multimillion dollar inheritance, which the two brothers had wanted to split between themselves.

Ken Doyle, who worked for the Ottawa police for 30 years, says he believes the victim’s husband, Dr. Sadan Goel, and his family have been denied justice in the nine years since the doctor’s slaying.

“To Dr. [Sadan] Goel: I am extremely embarrassed and disappointed not only in policing and justice within Canada, but by the fact that I have been avoiding this gentleman because I can’t tell him anything he doesn’t already know,” said Doyle.

In early 2004, the Goel family called Ottawa police and were referred to Doyle, a homicide investigator at the time. He tried to help them, and said he was told by superiors to assist the family, but not to investigate the case further or to submit any official reports.

Doyle told CBC News in an interview that the case “really disturbs” him.

“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.”

Hands tied by federal government

Ottawa police say they’ve looked into the Goel case, but were unable to investigate until a formal request is made by Indian government for an extradition and the Canadian government accepts it.

The investigation remains in the hands of Indian authorities until the Department of Justice approaches India and approves a domestic investigation, said Ottawa police spokesman Marc Soucy.

While Ottawa police did not conduct an official investigation, they sent an investigator to India, said Soucy. But he didn’t know the name of the investigator or when that individual went there.

Doyle said he had met once with officials from the Department of Justice about the case. He couldn’t say exactly when he held the meeting because he didn’t have his notes from his days with the Ottawa police.

Doyle didn’t want to discuss the details of the meeting, but said that it did not help to further the investigation.

“We do co-operate with the Indian officials and we will continue to do so,” Justice Minister Rob Nicholson told CBC News on Wednesday.

“We all have a stake in that and certainly our condolences go out to Dr. Goel and her family.”

But the Indian investigator who oversaw the case doesn’t see it that way.

“Every time there are queries from the Canadian side to provide information and we are supplying information,” said Jaywant Hargude, now the assistant commissioner of Mumbai police, in an interview.

“And they are [assuring] us they will co-operate with the investigation, and they will provide information for us, but so far there is not much development in this case.”

Hargude said Mumbai police believes Subhash Agrawal conspired to plan the slaying of his sister over a dispute surrounding the estate of the family patriarch.

Hargude also told CBC News that on the night of Goel’s death there were calls between Subhash Agrawal, his brother Suresh, and the other men implicated. Questionable money transfers exist, said Hargude, who added he could not provide further details because of the continuing investigation.

According to Hargude, Subhash Agrawal, who has not been formally charged, is also paying for the legal costs of the men accused of killing his sister.

Mumbai police issued a warrant for his arrest in 2006, although Agrawal has appealed that and the matter is now before the courts in India.

Interpol had also issued a red corner notice, which is an international alert for a wanted fugitive when an arrest warrant is issued and is seen as a means to extradition. The notice was later withdrawn, although Interpol won’t say exactly when.

Indian police made repeated requests

“I’m not suggesting the individual is guilty of any crime. But they seem to have the evidence in India to request an extradition order,” said Doyle.

“A red corner notice had been issued for his arrest some time prior. [The Department of Justice] denied knowledge of that, although I had a copy of that on my desk.”

Mumbai police say they have asked Canadian authorities for Agrawal’s phone and bank records in Ottawa.

The first such request was received by the Canadian government in September 2006, and others have been filed under the mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) that Canada has signed with India, which allows for co-operation on criminal investigations. But Indian police say they have received no help from Ottawa.

Indian authorities resubmitted their request in 2008, and again in 2010, with the help of Gary Botting, a Canadian lawyer specializing in extraditions, says the Goel family.

Both times the Department of Justice responded in writing with more questions, and did not share any information with Indian police, says the family.

The Department of Justice has told the Goel family it cannot discuss details of the MLAT process.

Doyle, meanwhile, had spoken with Indian authorities when they visited Canada in 2006 and obtained DNA evidence from them that he sent to Thunder Bay for testing, but no further investigation ensued.

He retired as an Ottawa police officer in January 2008, and flew to India the next month on his own time. He gave a presentation at the National Pathologist Conference in Mumbai and also spoke to Hargude.

Doyle also said he spoke to members of Interpol in an attempt to assist the Goel family, but the body provided him no further information.

“I don’t have a clue what they’re thinking,” said Doyle, referring to Canadian government.

“But I’m telling you the only reason you’re sitting here today is because the family has had the financial resources to keep this investigation … in the spotlight. They’ve gone to the media, they’ve gone to politicians. They’ve done anything and everything possible and they’re [pleading] for help.”

Allegations ‘utterly false,’ says Agrawal

Agrawal, meanwhile, continues to live in Ottawa, where he owns and runs a residence that provides housing for university students.

He declined an interview request, but said in a written statement that he had nothing to do with the slaying of Goel, whom he said he “loved dearly.”

“Others stood to gain enormously from her death, both financially and otherwise,” he said.

“These allegations, made by other family members, that I should be investigated or charged, are utterly false and without merit, and unsupported by any evidence whatsoever over the past nine years.”

Doyle says Agrawal “doesn’t appear to have anything to fear whatsoever. He continues to carry on his business and is living quite a nice life from what I understand. He’s committed no crime as defined by Canada because nobody’s bothered to properly investigate. So why shouldn’t he enjoy a great life?”

Dr. Sadan Goel, now 74, is worried he may not live to see justice done.

“A lot of people pass away by this age,” he told CBC News.

“And I have started to wonder: Will I see justice in my time, when I am still living and my brain is able to grasp … what has happened?”

Canada accused of stalling doctor murder probe in India

Source: CBC News | Published: Wednesday, Oct 17, 2012 5:39 AM ET | Last Updated: October 18, 2012 by Anu Singh, John Lancaster, and Pras Rajagopalan

CLICK HERE to read the original article on CBC

CLICK HERE for the PDF version

A lack of co-operation from Canadian authorities has stalled an investigation into the grisly slaying of an Ontario doctor just over nine years ago, Indian authorities tell CBC News.

Asha Goel, a Canadian citizen, was found dead – the victim of extensive trauma — on August 23, 2003 while visiting family in Mumbai, India. But one of the men wanted in connection to her death, Goel’s brother Subhash Agrawal, lives in Ottawa and has yet to be questioned about the matter.

“Subhash Agrawal is wanted for us … he is wanted for murder and conspiracy of murder” Jaywant Hargude, the assistant commissioner of Mumbai police, told CBC News.

Indian authorities issued an arrest warrant for Agrawal, now 63, in August 2006.

That same year, Interpol issued a red notice for Agrawal, which is an international alert for a wanted fugitive when an arrest warrant is issued and is seen as a means to extradition. The notice was later withdrawn, although Interpol won’t say exactly when.

Agrawal has appealed the arrest warrant, and the matter is still before Indian courts. He has never been formally charged. But Mumbai police say their investigation and the appeal process have been stymied because the Canadian government isn’t co-operating.

“We hope that [the] Canadian government will provide us information as early as possible because this investigation is delayed because of them because we are not getting the information in time. That is our problem” said Hargude, who was leading the investigation into Goel’s death.

A Canadian police source with knowledge of the case told CBC News that he believes authorities here have never questioned Agrawal on the matter.

“We are aware of the murder of Dr. Goel and are prepared to assist India in any way that we can,” said a spokeswoman with the Canadian Department of Justice in an email.

“As with all such matters, we cannot discuss confidential state-to-state communications.”

Severe injuries

The autopsy report regarding Asha Goel’s death states that the primary injury causing death was a major fracture to the skull or orbital region.

Goel’s family claims they later learned from police Goel was stabbed multiple times with a vegetable peeler, paring knife, and two marble tiles that were smashed against her head. Goel’s body and face were badly beaten: she had two missing teeth, a broken nose, jaw, and was blinded in one eye.

“We all have the memory of our mother’s eyes, and their warm face, their smile. Those things were destroyed. Even when we cremated her and people did their best to cover up her injuries, it was ghastly” said the victim’s son, Sanjay Goel.

“I have never had anything to do with the death of my sister, Dr. Asha Goel, whom I loved dearly,” Subhash Agrawal wrote in a statement to CBC News. “Others stood to gain enormously from her death, both financially and otherwise. I had absolutely no financial gain which should flow as a consequence of her murder.”

Agrawal, a businessman based in Ottawa, declined an interview request.

A dispute worth millions

Asha Goel’s husband, Sadan Goel, says she was the peacemaker in the family but was upset that two of her brothers — Suresh and Subhash Agrawal — had decided to split their late father’s multi-million dollar inheritance amongst themselves, leaving the youngest brother with nothing.

His wife warned her brothers in an ongoing family dispute that she believed they had produced a fake will, and that if they didn’t share the inheritance with their third brother, she and her three sisters would stake a claim, he said.

Indian law gives women the right to equal inheritance but it’s customary for sons to claim paternal properties. A commonly held belief is that daughters will reap the benefits of their husband’s fortunes.

Goel hoped to resolve the family dispute during her visit to India in the summer of 2003, just after her youngest daughter’s wedding. But instead, her son says, there was a heated argument between her and Suresh Agrawal. Goel left Suresh Agrawal’s home in the tony Malbar Hill area of Mumbai very upset. Subhash was not in the country at the time.

On Aug. 22, the day before Goel’s flight home, Suresh Agrawal apologized, and asked his sister to spend her last night in India at his home. She agreed.

The next morning Goel was found dead in the guest room she was sleeping in at her brother’s apartment. She was 63.

Suresh Agrawal first told the Goel family he thought Asha committed suicide. Hargude said the injuries Goel suffered indicate that a suicide was highly unlikely. Police initially deemed it a robbery but there didn’t appear to be a clear motive, and very little property — some of Goel’s jewelry and a camera — was stolen.

“[The] ultimate motive behind this murder was a property dispute, and we have come to this conclusion. We have put the case before the court with this motive behind the murder,” said Hargude.

Arrest warrant issued in 2006

Mumbai police arrested one of the Agrawal brothers’ employees, Pradeep Prabhakar Parab, a month after Asha’s death and charged him with murder.

In Oct. 2005, Pawankumar Goenka, Manohar Shinde and Narendra Goel — Suresh Agrawal’s son-in-law —were charged with murder. Police also implicated Asha’s brother Suresh in planning her killing, but he died of natural causes a month after the homicide.

Subhash Agrawal was asked repeatedly to submit to questioning by Mumbai police starting in November 2005. He did not comply, and in August 2006 Mumbai police issued an arrest warrant for him.

“Servants of this Subhash Agrawal in India were arrested and their involvement is clear in this murder, and once these servants are involved in this case ultimately there is somebody from the family who has provided all this money, and all this planning to the servants to kill Asha Goel,” said Hargude.

Hargude also told CBC News the night of Goel’s death there were calls between Subhash Agrawal, his brother Suresh, and the servants implicated. Questionable money transfers between exist, said Hargude, who added he could not provide further details because of the ongoing investigation.

And Subhash Agrawal is paying for the legal costs of the men accused of killing his sister, says Hargude.

As a result, Mumbai police say they have asked Canadian authorities for Agrawal’s phone and bank records in Ottawa. Canadian authorities received the first formal request for help in Sept. 2006, but Hargude says they have shared no information to date.

But Asha’s family says they contacted Canadian authorities well before the formal Sept. 2006 communication.

Sanjay Goel alleges Subhash was granted citizenship sometime in 2005, he says even after the Canadian government was asked by the Indian government to not grant him citizenship because he was a suspect in Asha’s slaying.

‘I feel that my country has abandoned me’

The Goel family says they feel betrayed by the Canadian government.

“I feel that my country has abandoned me. They don’t care. That makes me sad. Is this the country which I served? Is this the country where I gave my youth and my whole adult life? Is this country where my wife served?” said Sadan Goel, Asha’s widower in an interview.

Sadan, now 74, is a retired general surgeon. Asha and he moved to Canada in 1963, when he was 25, and Asha was 23. The couple practiced medicine in Regina and Ontario for almost 40 years. Asha Goel has delivered over 10,000 Canadian babies, the family estimates.

Asha Goel worked as chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Headwater Health centre in Orangeville, Ont., a position she had held since she moved there with her family from Regina in 1987.

“She was a fireball, she loved to work. We always knew when she hit the ward, because it was like, ‘Okay I’m here, let’s go girls,’” said old friend and colleague Mary Jane White.

When she first heard of Goel’s slaying, she “sobbed for hours and hours.”

She says Asha’s husband was a “broken man” after his wife’s death.

“It’s impossible to replace a person. She wasn’t just my life partner, she’s a friend, a mother of my children,” said Sadan Goel. He says his family has been fight for justice for nine years. They’ve knocked on the doors of Ottawa police, RCMP, multiple MPs, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Department of Justice for help.

“The Canadians told me that this is an Indian problem. The crime has taken place over there and they should be looking into it, and if they need our help, we will do it,” said Goel.

Cops await permission to conduct narco test

S Ahmed Ali, TNN Sep 10, 2009, 12.35am IST

MUMBAI: Six years after NRI doctor Asha Goel was murdered on Malabar Hill, the probe seems to be moving in the right direction.

The Bangalore Forensic Science laboratory (BFSL) recently sent a report of the lie-detection test done on prime accused and Praveen Vatsa, a domestic help working with relatives.

The case dates back to August 2003, when the Canada-based Asha arrived in Mumbai to visit her brothers over a property dispute. The family has huge properties worth crores in south Mumbai. She had three brothers, Subhash (also settled in Canada), Suresh and Shekhar Agarwal (who was settled in the US). It was said that Asha was trying to broker peace between her brothers. But on August 23, 2003, a day before she was to leave for Canada, she was found murdered at Sudhakar (a building on Malabar Hill). She was stabbed several times and her flat was ransacked to make it appear like a robbery.

Vatsa used to work at co-accused Narendra Goel’s residence (Narendra was the brother-in-law of one of the three Agarwal brothers). A probe revealed that Narendra, too, had lied to cops when he said he was in Delhi the day Asha was murdered; he produced an Air India ticket supporting his claim but, during a narco test in 2007, he revealed that it was Vatsa who had travelled to Delhi as Narendra Goel.

Cops have now issued a red-corner notice through Interpol against Subhash Agarwal; he is in Canada and cops are seeking his extradition.

The confidential report of the lie-detection test conducted on Vatsa was submitted to the Crime Branch recently. She was asked eight questions and joint commissioner of police (crime) Rakesh Maria confirmed that all the answers given by Vatsa were false. He said he was now awaiting the court’s nod to conduct Vatsa’s narco-analysis and brain-mapping.

Officials said Vatsa had filed an objection in the court against the police plea for the tests and the matter was likely to come up for hearing next week.

Another brother accused in the case, Suresh, died in 2006. Pradeep Parab, Pawankumar Goenka, Manohar Shinde, Narendra Goel and Vatsa have been arrested in this case so far.

THE QUESTIONS

TOI has got access to five of the eight questions that Vatsa was asked and her answers

* Does Narendra Goel, brother-in-law of Suresh Agarwal, calls you Vatsa?

Answer: No.

* Did you come to Mumbai from Delhi in August 2003?

A: No.

* On August 22, 2003, a day prior to the murder, did you come to city by a flight?

A: No.

* Did you travel by flight from Mumbai to Delhi on Narendra Goel’s ticket?

A: No.

* Did you talk to Narendra Goel on the day of murder?

A: No.

Asha Goel murder: Lie detector test on accused

S Ahmed Ali, TNN Apr 5, 2009, 12.13am IST

MUMBAI: The metropolitan magistrate’s court has granted crime branch the permission to conduct brain mapping and lie detector tests on Praveen Vatsa, an accused in the Asha Goel murder case. A police team will take Vatsa to the government forensic lab at Bangalore next week.

Asha, a Canada-based doctor, was found murdered in a flat on Malabar Hill on August 23, 2003. She had come to the city to settle property disputes between her brothers, Subhash and Suresh. Asha wanted to ensure that her third brother, Shekhar, got his dues.

In September 2003, the police arrested one Pradeep Parab, whose interrogation led to the arrest of three more persons-Pawankumar Goenka, Manohar Shinde and Narendra Goel. Narendra was Asha’s relative. Vatsa, Narendra’s domestic help, was arrested last week after officials found out that he had lied about his employer’s whereabouts.

Police believe that Vatsa was part of the murder conspiracy. While Suresh died in 2004, the police have sought Interpol’s help to bring in Subhash, who is in Canada.

Family servant held in 2003 murder case

Published: Mar 26, 2009, 03:30 IST By S Ahmed Ali | Place: Mumbai | Agency: India Times

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MUMBAI: The city crime branch, which has arrested a 40-year-old family servant in connection with Canada-based doctor Asha Goel’s 2003 murder, suspects a property dispute is the motive.

The crime branch arrested Praveen Vatsa from Delhi on Monday and he has been remanded to police custody till March 1. The police are now seeking the court’s permission to conduct tests on Vatsa.  

The police say Vatsa is part of a conspiracy hatched by the deceased’s brothers, Subhash and Suresh. While Suresh died a natural death in 2004, the police have sought the Interpol’s help to trace Subhash who is in Canada. A red-corner notice has also been issued, an officer added.   

In 2003, Asha Goel was in Mumbai to visit her brothers over a property dispute. The police said Subhash and Suresh were neglecting their younger brother Shekar and Asha was trying to broker peace between them. On August 23, 2003, a day before she was to leave for Canada, she was found murdered in Sudhakar building at Malabar hill.           

In September 2003, the police arrested one Pradeep Parab whose interrogation led to the arrest of three more persons, Pawankumar Goenka, Manohar Shinde and Narendra Goel.

Fresh arrest in Asha Goel murder case of 2003

Published: Wednesday, Mar 25, 2009, 1:14 IST By Somendra Sharma | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

The Mumbai Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested a 42-year-old man in connection with the Dr Asha Goel murder case in 2003.

The arrested suspect has been identified as Pravin Surendranarayan Vatsa. He was arrested from Mehrauli area of Delhi by the crime branch sleuths. Police think he can reveal some vital information in the case.

According to the police, Canadian resident Dr Asha Sadankumar Goel had come to Mumbai in 2003 and on August 23, 2003 she was supposed to leave for Canada. On August 22, she had come to her brother Sureshchandra Agarwal’s house. He is a resident of Sudhakar building, 14 floor, ND Dhabolkar Marg, Malabar Hill.

On August 23, at around 6.30 am, when complainant Sureshchandra woke up, he saw the door of the guest room where Asha was sleeping, ajar. On entering the room, he saw Asha lying in a pool of blood. A doctor residing in the same building declared Asha dead. A complaint was lodged with the Malabar Hill police.

On September 2, 2003 the police made their first breakthrough in the case and arrested one Pradeep Prabhakar Parab. Later, the case was handed over to the crime branch. After Pradeep’s interrogation, few more names of suspects cropped up. On November 1, 2005 crime branch officials arrested Pawankumar

Satyanarayan Goenka, Manohar Mahadeo Shinde and Narendra Ghanshyamdas Goel in the case (all four are currently on bail). Narendra Goel had applied for bail in sessions court and had said that he was in Delhi when the murder took place,police said.

“It was learnt that instead of Narendra, his father’s servant Pravin had gone to Delhi and after the murder Narendra too had left for Delhi. On August 1, 2008 Pravin was subjected to a lie-detector test, but nothing concrete was revealed. We had summoned Pravin to be present at the crime branch office on December 2, 2008,

December 24, 2008 and January 12, 2009, but he went into hiding.

“We have arrested him from Mehrauli in Delhi. We suspect that he was aware of the conspiracy and he abetted the accused in the crime. Pravin was produced before a local court on Tuesday, which remanded him in police custody till April 2,” said a crime branch source.

Family of doctor killed in India seeks justice

Last Updated: Monday, July 23, 2007 | 5:05 PM CT CBC News

Asha Goel’s family wants Ottawa to get involved in the case

Almost four years after a Canadian doctor was the victim of a brutal beating death in Mumbai, India, her children say they are feeling betrayed by the Canadian government.

Dr. Asha Goel was an obstetrician who had a four-decade-long career in Saskatchewan and Ontario and had been living in Orangeville, Ont., in August 2003 when she went to visit family in Mumbai.

There had been a rift among her siblings over a multi-million-dollar inheritance. Her children say she had hoped to be a peacemaker in the dispute. However, she never returned.

On the morning she was supposed to fly home to Canada, Asha Goel’s body was found in her brother’s home — in a pool of blood.

In a CBC interview, her daughter Seema Goel described a litany of horrific injuries.

“There were broken teeth, her jaw was broken, she was blinded in both eyes,” she said.

“She died of a cerebral brain hemorrhage, so they had struck her in the head until her skull fractured. She had multiple stab wounds, bruising of the kidneys, there was bruising of the spleen.”

Indian police accused two of Asha Goel’s brothers of being part of a group conspiring to have her killed.

Since then, one of them, Suresh Agrawal, has died. The second, Subhash R. Agrawal, has been granted Canadian citizenship even though officials in this country knew that he was being investigated in India as a murder suspect.

Subhash Agrawal, who now lives in Ottawa, has denied any involvement in his sister’s death.

Indian police want him extradited to stand trial, but so far, no action has been taken in Canada, the children say.

Thousands of e-mails

Vancouver businessman Sanjay Goel has been back to India 19 times since his mother was murdered.

Although Asha Goel was a Canadian citizen, officials here call her death an “Indian problem” — a notion her son finds hard to stomach.

“Because when we go to India, their questions are: Where’s your government? Why aren’t they involved? Why aren’t they interested?” he said.

Goel and his family have been pleading for Ottawa’s help ever since his mother was killed. They’ve written 3,000 emails and buttonholed politicians from the former Liberal government to the current Conservative one.

They’ve hired private investigators, made dozens of trips to India and set up an online petition for other Canadians to lobby the government.

“We don’t want a single innocent person to go to jail — we just want the truth. If we have to face the terrible truth that it’s family — so be it, but let’s get the truth,” said Sanjay Goel.

Waiting for Canada to act

An Ottawa police sergeant confirmed to CBC there’s an arrest warrant from Interpol on his desk with Subhash Agrawal’s name on it, but he says he can’t act on it without approval from the federal Justice Department.

Justice officials say Interpol arrest warrants aren’t legal grounds to arrest anyone in Canada and that an arrest in this country is up to police.

Sanjay Goel said he won’t give up efforts to get Canada involved in the case.

“I’m the one son and I’m the first-born child. I have to find justice,” he said. “I will not rest until that’s done.”

The Goel children say for now, their hopes are pinned on the Indian court system.

Four people alleged to be involved in a conspiracy to kill Asha Goel are set to go on trial in India next month.

‘She was a proud Canadian’

Mike Roberts, The Province

Published: Wednesday, March 07, 2007

In “pursuit of justice,” Vancouver businessman Sanjay Goel returned again to Mumbai last week, his 18th trip to India since his mother was “brutally and heinously murdered” there in August 2003.

Dr. Asha Goel, a 62-year-old Canadian obstetrician from Orangeville, Ont., was stabbed, bludgeoned and smothered to death at her family’s ancestral home on the Arabian Sea, where she spent much of her youth.

Her two brothers, Suresh and Subhash Agrawal, allegedly plotted the murder over a disputed inheritance worth as much as $12 million.

Suresh has since died of kidney failure, but Subhash — granted Canadian citizenship two years after the murder — remains at large in Ottawa.

He denies the allegations, which he has described in Indian court documents as “a vilification campaign.”

A 57-year-old businessman, Subhash is listed as a “wanted accused” in an Indian arrest warrant.

He is also the subject of an Interpol Red Notice, a priority “wanted” posting recognized internationally as a valid request for the arrest of a fugitive for the purposes of extradition.

But Subhash has never been arrested, or even investigated, by Canadian authorities.

And India’s request that Canadian authorities launch an investigation — filed last November under its Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Canada — was returned as deficient.

“The Indians are asking us for help,” fumes Goel, president of the Vancouver-based holiday company, Cruise Connections Canada.

“Why are we getting tied up on technicalities? There’s been an arrest warrant, it’s been processed through Interpol, it has resulted in Red Notice, which has been received by the Department of Justice in Canada. . . why has it not been acted upon?”

It’s one of many questions Goel is asking — of both Canada and India — as he struggles with the bureaucracy of Canada’s international extradition process.

Dr. Asha Goel spent her teen years in Mumbai where she graduated from medical college before emigrating to Canada.

She practised in Saskatchewan and Ontario for 40 years before becoming chief obstetrician at the Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville.

“She was Canadian, she was a proud Canadian,” says her heartbroken son, during an interview before his most recent trip to Mumbai.

“She was a defender of the health-care system. She was an advocate for women and women’s help. She delivered over 10,000 Canadian children and brought them into this world, children who then went on to have lives and children of their own.”

Following his sister’s wedding in Ontario in late July 2003, Sanjay and his mother travelled together to India. She wanted to visit her brother Suresh, whose health was rapidly deteriorating, before he died.

On the night of Aug. 16, Sanjay went with his mother to Suresh’s residence, the Agrawal family home comprising the entire 14th floor of an apartment block in exclusive Malabar Hill.

Dr. Goel ended up arguing with Suresh over his plan to split their father’s legacy — including the $4 million ancestral home — with brother Subhash, while denying a share to the youngest brother, Shekhar, a U.S. resident.

The older brothers claimed the youngest got his share in advance, as an investment in his business. The battle had been playing out in the Indian courts for 10 years.

Dr. Goel was attempting to broker a peace, her son insists, and raised the spectre of the Agrawal sisters tossing out Indian custom in favour of Indian law, which recognizes both sons and daughters as rightful heirs.

“My mother eventually came to a point where she said, ‘Look, unless you three boys are going to act like family, we four sisters are going to come in and demand our share. So instead of one-third, you’re going to get one-seventh,'” explains Goel, 42.

“She was in the way. With her murder, for lack of a better description, the other sisters would go quiet.”

Goel and his mother left that night believing Suresh would sort things out with Subhash.

In defence of the conspiracy allegations, Subhash filed a statement with the Indian High Court to explain that Suresh phoned him in Canada that night to express his “anguish and despair” over the meeting.

Over the next few days, Dr. Goel and Suresh made up over the phone, says her son, who returned to Canada ahead of his mother.

“On the 21st, Suresh called my mother to persuade her to spend the last night in India before she left,” he says.

His mother agreed, and on Aug. 22nd, returned to Suresh’s home.

She had dinner with family and retired around 11 p.m.

Early the next morning she was found in her bedroom, beaten to death.

Suresh, says Goel, maintained the death was a suicide.

Indian police believe the four hired killers intended to smother Dr. Goel, making it appear as though she’d died in her sleep.

The custom within Hinduism is to cremate human remains almost immediately after death. No one would have been the wiser, Goel says, if his mother had not struggled with her assailants.

“The instruments that were used to murder my mother are a vegetable paring knife, a vegetable peeler, two pieces of

solid granite baseboard, as well as a pillow,” says Goel, with studied detachment.

“She had a broken jaw, she was blinded, massive head injury, her spleen was ruptured, her ribs were cracked.”

A month after the murder, a suspect was arrested, but the case was inexplicably dropped.

Outraged, Goel pressed Indian authorities and the file was transferred to the elite Mumbai Crime Branch in Jan. 2004.

In Sept. 2005, that unit extracted a confession from Pradeep Parab, who fingered Suresh — who died in Nov. 2003 — as the mastermind.

Parab eventually identified his co-conspirators, and on Dec. 29, 2005, police arrested three other men — P. K. Goenka, M. Shinde and Narenda Goel (no relation to the victim).

Parab, Goenka and Shinde were all one-time employees of either Suresh or Subhash, claims Goel. Narenda Goel, who allegedly co-ordinated the killing, is Suresh’s son-in-law.

The charge sheet also listed Subhash Agrawal as a “wanted accused.”

Mumbai Crime Branch Insp. Jaywald Hargude alleged in Indian court that Suresh and Subhash hatched an international conspiracy to use the four accused men to kill Dr. Goel over the inheritance.

“For a long time, our entire family rejected that notion because we couldn’t believe, in any way, that a brother could kill a sister,” says Goel, from his sixth-floor offices overlooking Stanley Park.

“It was just outside of the realm of possibility.”

Eventually, he says, the family began to question the disturbing circumstances surrounding Asha Goel’s death.

“This has broken the family, this has destroyed the family,” says an emotional Goel.

“It’s not about a function of being embarrassing, it’s a function of doubting your own self. I wanted to get a blood transfusion. I said to my own father, ‘How do I get this blood out of my veins?'”

In November, the High Court of Mumbai ordered laundered clothing belonging to the four accused sent to Canada for specialized forensic testing after Indian labs failed to extract DNA .

Insp. Hargude delivered the items, seized three years earlier, to the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto.

“It was an enlightened decision and from what we’ve been told, it’s the first time in India’s history,” says Goel, at last encouraged by some movement in the languishing case.

Initial forensic testing has been successful. The CFS extracted DNA samples from the clothing of Parab and Goenka. There is only a one-in-10-billion chance those samples belong to anyone but Dr. Asha Goel.

A second round of testing is now underway.

Insp. Hargude was in Canada for five weeks, and met informally with Sgt. Ken Doyle of the Ottawa Police Department, which cannot offer active assistance in the case until Ottawa signs off on a new MLAT request from India, which has yet to arrive.

Sarita Agrawal, wife of Subhash, says Insp. Hargude did not meet with her husband during his stay in Canada.

“For three years we are going through hell,” she says. “There is no evidence against my husband.”

The fugitive’s wife says her husband is the victim of a conspiracy built around “corruption and bribes” in “third world” India.

“There’s no truth in it; it’s all made up stories,” she says, in a tear-filled telephone interview.

She says her family is being harassed and has contacted Canadian authorities.

“The police are saying they want to interrogate my husband,” says Sarita, adding that Subhash was in India for a month after the murder and left without any problems.

She says Subhash, who has kidney disease, will meet willingly with Indian or Canadian authorities in Canada.

“We said, ‘Okay, you can come here, we are ready for anything, video, anything,'” she says.

“But they want custodial interrogation. We cannot. They want to arrest my husband, beat him in India.”

Sarita suggests Dr. Goel was the victim of common robbery.

She says relations between the Goels and Agrawals were “cordial” prior to the murder. Subhash, she says, is under “psychiatric treatment” for stress.

“These people are after us like mad,” she says of the Goels.

“It’s a hell of a time, they have spoiled our life. This is boggling.”

“We want the truth, that’s all we want,” says Goel, who has been told repeatedly by Canadian authorities that the murder is an Indian matter.

“We fail to understand why the (Canadian) government would not be wanting to take a more active role in this case,” he maintains.

He says he’s baffled that Canadian authorities have failed to act against an alleged conspiracy by one Canadian against another.

Goel would also like to know how his uncle Subhash was granted Canadian citizenship in July 2005 when Canadian authorities knew he was under investigation in the death of his sister.

But ultimately, he adds, the family is puzzled by the “distinct difference in reaction” to the case of Dominic and Nancy Ianiero, a Canadian couple murdered in Mexico.

“Within days there were RCMP members onsite working with the Mexican officials,” says Goel.

“And it’s sad to me when I’m told by Canadian officials this is an Indian problem. I feel that in this country that I’m not a Canadian and in India I’m being told I’m not an Indian. That hurts verymuch.”

Neither the Department of Justice nor DFAIT would comment on the case.

– – –

HOW YOU CAN HELP

The Goel family has set up a website (www.ashagoel.ca) to gather support in their campaign to put pressure on the Indian and Canadian governments.

There is an e-mail address (tips@ashagoel.ca) for tips and leads and an online petition that has already garnered 4,000 signatures.

The family is offering a reward of one million Indian rupees (about $27,000 Cdn.) for information leading to a conviction.

Canadian police say the murder is an Indian matter, though Indian police allege the conspiracy was hatched in Canada.

Killings abroad go unsolved

Published: Jan 15, 2007, By Curtis Rush Staff Reporter: | Place: Toronto | Agency: Toronto Star

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More than 250 Canadians have been slain abroad in the past seven years, documents obtained by the Toronto Star show.

The cases are spread across the globe, with the majority occurring in the United States and sunny vacation destinations such as Mexico, Dominican Republic and Jamaica, according to information released by Canada’s foreign affairs department under access to information legislation. Many of the cases remain open without any charges. The United States tops the list with at least 56 killings. Mexico and Caribbean countries come second with a combined total of at least 47 in the 2000-2006 time period. Killings in Central American countries, India, China, Russia, the Philippines, Thailand and elsewhere round out the list.

The cases range from the slayings of Woodbridge’s Domenic and Nancy Ianiero in Mexico last February to that of Dr. Asha Goel of Orangeville, whose family believes four men were hired to kill her during a visit to India in August 2003 in a dispute over a family inheritance. Added to the list will be Woodbridge teen Adam DePrisco, who died last Monday after visiting a popular nightclub in Acapulco.

There’s a common denominator: Victims’ families say the Canadian government could do a much better job representing their interests abroad.

“It would be nice to feel that the Canadian government had your back when something like this happens. We felt let down,” said Calgary’s Cher Ewing, whose daughter, Kristen Deyell, 20, was killed outside a Guadalajara nightclub in 2004.

Ewing believes Mexican authorities botched the investigation and allowed the killers to go free. She said Canada’s foreign affairs department should advocate for victims’ families overseas and closely watch cases such as her daughter’s. Instead, she said, they get scant information from Foreign Affairs, which waits to get reports sent to them by consular officials.

An advocacy group, Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime, wants Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay to establish an international victim assistance unit within the ministry.

The United States protects the rights of citizens abroad through the Office of American Citizens Services and Crisis Management. The office, in a promise to American citizens, states it exists to “assist you and your family whenever and wherever we can.” Among its duties: swiftly helping victims of crime overseas.

In Canada, Foreign Affairs provides some help but victims say not enough. And last year, the federal government terminated the cabinet-level post of parliamentary secretary with special responsibility for Canadians abroad.

“It’s very disconcerting that the Canadian government does not protect its citizens in foreign countries,” said Edward Greenspan, lawyer for the Ianiero family, adding Canada should study how the U.S. handles such cases.

Last fall, the Star made the request for information on all Canadians murdered out of the country. Foreign Affairs refused to release detailed information on the cases, citing privacy concerns. However, it did release a year-by-year, geographical accounting of where and when the murders occurred. The list contains 249 murders cases. The number of murders is actually more since double murders, like the Ianieros, are counted as a single case.

Each case represents a request for assistance by the families. The documents released to the Star list 60 per cent of the cases as closed, and the remainder active. This does not mean the case was solved, only that Foreign Affairs has closed the file.

Mexico, which has been criticized by victims’ families for not properly investigating crimes, has 15 murders, with nine active and six closed from 2000 to 2006.

In response to the DePrisco death, Liberal MP Dan McTeague is calling for the government to take a more active role in solving cases of Canadians killed abroad.

However, when a murder is committed, Canadian families say they are left to deal with the authorities in the countries where the murder occurred.

Many complain Foreign Affairs is often the last to know. Or, if aware, department officials don’t pass the information to families. Canada has consular officials in numerous countries overseas and some have RCMP liaison officers assigned to the consul. Victims families say the Canadian presence should allow for quick feedback.

Ewing said she learned the men believed responsible for her daughter’s slaying were being held and questioned on suspicion of murder, kidnapping and illegal gun possession. Ewing contacted Foreign Affairs in Ottawa.

“We were told that the Canadian government wouldn’t interfere in a foreign country’s policies or procedures,” Ewing said.

One suspect on weapons charges was freed on bail and Ewing has heard reports he is living in Acapulco. Murder charges were dropped against the other suspect, but he is in custody in Mexico on unrelated charges, Ewing said.

When she has tried to get more information, Foreign Affairs has told her it cannot discuss specifics with her, she said.

Susanne Gillies Smith of Banff, whose father Peter, 75, was shot in the head in Mexico in 2004, says she had to put Foreign Affairs in touch with Mexican police. Smith did say that a Canadian consular official in Mexico was helpful shortly after the murder – the official travelled on her behalf to the morgue and identified her father’s body, then made arrangements to transfer the cremated remains home.

Réjean Beaulieu, a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, says it does not have the power to investigate murders. They have consular services and will assist in providing phone numbers and making sure the body is brought home. Foreign Affairs says on its website it will only “request that local authorities investigate suspicious circumstances in the event of an alleged or apparent crime or death.”

If notified of the death first, Canadian consular officials say they will make arrangements through the RCMP to have the appropriate Canadian police service contact the next of kin and put the family in touch with consular officials in Ottawa.

Beaulieu said the department also provides travel alerts when necessary.

Critics say the government needs to do more to warn Canadians of dangers in advance.

Marcia Rose McKenzie of Toronto was in the Bahamas for a wedding in 2002. She had an argument with her boyfriend and was walking along Sandy Point Beach when she was attacked by a 17-year-old carrying a machete. The teen slashed her across the head and put her in a shallow grave. The youth was later convicted of her murder.

Her cousin, Toronto city councillor Michael Thompson, spoke to the Star about the case. He said Canadians are being sold on tropical locations as paradise, but too often “people can throw caution to the wind. They feel they are somehow insulated from tragic events happening.”

He said the government must do a better job warning the public and releasing information to prospective travellers on local crime problems. Canadians should also be made aware that local police and judiciary may not be at Canadian standards, he says. “What we expect from our judiciary is nowhere near what we can expect from other jurisdictions,” Thompson said.

The Star contacted embassies of several countries that figured in the data and where families complained about poor assistance for Canadian victims. In each case, the country referred the Star to Canada’s Foreign Affairs department for comment.

The United States topped the list of slain Canadians, not surprising since it is the country most visited by Canadian travellers. One case involved Louise Chaput, a Quebec psychologist who was killed while hiking alone near Mount Washington in New Hampshire in 2001.

Family and friends called the Canadian embassy in Washington for help, but the family was told that the New Hampshire state police were in charge and it had no authority to investigate.

Her death remains unsolved.

McTeague, a Liberal MP and critic for consular services, was previously the parliamentary secretary for Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for Canadians abroad. He said the Conservative government should name a minister responsible for Canadians abroad and is surprised Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not done so.

The Star also looked at the case files and used the annual number of Canadian visitors to the country to come up with a rate per 100,000 visitors. The countries with the highest murder rate of Canadians are Pakistan (21.2 per 100,000), Haiti (11.6) and Guatemala (6).

Although the Star could only get cases for the first 11 months of 2006, it appears the number of Canadians killed abroad is in a slight decline. In 2000 there were 43; in 2004 there were 36; in 2006 there were 28 (up to December), plus one more known case in December.

Data analysis by the Star’s Andrew Bailey

India asks Canada for forensic help in solving homicide

Indian labs did not provide DNA evidence in slaying of prominent Canadian doctor

JONATHAN WOODWARD

Special to The Globe and Mail

Knives, a broken granite slab, and the blood-spattered clothes of four men accused of slaying a prominent Canadian doctor in India are in Canada for testing, after Indian labs failed to produce DNA evidence.

Three years after Orangeville, Ont., obstetrician Asha Goel was beaten to death in Mumbai, and over a year after suspects were arrested, the High Court of Mumbai ordered that police in India get forensic help from Canada.

“Finally, Canada is doing something for my mother,” said Dr. Goel’s son, B.C. businessman Sanjay Goel.

Mr. Goel said he had little confidence in the Indian testing agency and hoped Canadians would recover evidence that could put his mother’s case to rest.

“Too many people have said this was an Indian problem. My mother was a Canadian. This is a Canadian problem,” he said.

In 2003, Dr. Goel travelled from Orangeville to India to help end a family feud over a $5-million inheritance. Days after she met her brothers, her battered body was found in the apartment of one brother, Suresh Agrawal.

The initial police investigation in India stalled without arrests and police watched their main suspect, Mr. Agrawal, die of natural causes.

Mumbai Crime Branch Inspector Jaywald Hargude picked up the case. He told an Indian court that he believed “certain vital aspects of the matter were not adequately investigated.”

After Insp. Hargude’s work, police arrested four men in Dr. Goel’s killing. Then, police alleged in court that Dr. Goel’s two brothers, Suresh and Ottawa resident Subhash Agrawal, had hatched an international conspiracy to use the four accused men to kill her over the $5-million inheritance.

During the initial investigation, Indian labs were able to determine the blood type on the clothes, but did not extract DNA. Insp. Hargude arrived in Canada with the boxes of evidence last week and handed it to the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto on Monday.The CFS volunteered to conduct the new studies for free, said Ontario deputy chief coroner Jim Cairns. If Dr. Goel’s blood is found on the clothes, that may go a long way toward convicting the four men in their Indian trials, he said. Results are expected within two weeks.

Since his arrival in Canada on Friday, Insp. Hargude has held private meetings with Sergeant Ken Doyle of the Ottawa Police Department.

“We were having a professional meeting,” Sgt. Doyle said. “Right now, the Ottawa Police can assist an investigation but only with an official request.

“It has to go through a process — an official international process — to ensure that the rights of the Canadian citizens are respected,” he said.

Police in Ottawa haven’t received such a request, usually made under the terms of a mutual legal-assistance treaty. But Insp. Hargude said his government had made the request in October and it is working its way through diplomatic channels.

“We have already informed the Indian embassy in Canada to get some investigations to help us,” Mr. Hargude said. “It has already been issued by the Indian government.”

Police have treated the killing as being in Indian jurisdiction, though Indian police have alleged in court that the conspiracy was hatched in Canada. Insp. Hargude said his visit would be limited to getting evidence against the four men, but he would do more on this visit if ordered.

“I am not going to do certain things without direct orders,” he said. “I will not do any investigations until I receive orders like that.

Subhash Agrawal and his lawyer did not return phone calls, but his wife Sarita said in a telephone interview that her husband is innocent.

“The truth is not coming out,” Ms. Agrawal said, adding that improper police procedures are what has led Indian police to her husband, putting her family “through hell.”

Mr. Agrawal has not gone to India due to kidney problems, she said.

“My husband has done everything possible to answer the charges,” she said. “Our family has suffered so much and there is not a whisper of evidence against him.”

Tests in Canada could nail Dr Asha Goel’s killers

Published: Wednesday, Oct 25, 2006, 03:05 IST | Place: Mumbai | Agency: Mumbai Mirror

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The Bombay High Court has ordered that clothes of four accused in the 2003 Dr Asha Goel murder case should be sent to Canada for advanced forensic tests, called ‘mito-chondrial DNA tests,’ in order to establish that the four committed the crime. 

The accused had allegedly washed their clothes, splattered with the victim’s blood, to remove the stains. The mito-chondrial tests — that help identify ethnic origins and the direct maternal line — can determine whose blood the clothes were stained with. India has no facility for these tests.      

A division bench of Justice J N Patel and Roshan Dalvi directed the investigating officer in the case to personally take the clothes and other articles used in the killing — a vegetable peeler, a vegetable pairing knife, a pillow and a piece of a granite baseboard — for the tests after the victim’s NRI husband and petitioner Dr S K Goel requested that advanced tests be carried out. 

Dr Goel told the court that as the clothes had been washed, it would be difficult to come to any conclusion about the killers.      

However, he said, Canadian laboratories were capable of finding out whose blood-stains had been there on the clothes before they were removed. 

Since Dr Asha Goel was a Canada citizen and practised medicine there, the Canadian government has filed an affidavit in Bombay High Court saying it will not charge for the tests, public prosecutor Raja Thackeray told Mumbai Mirror.            

Travel expenses of investigating officers will be borne by the petitioner. 

Case so far       

• Dr Asha Goel, 62, was on a visit to India when she was murdered at her brother Suresh Agarwal’s 11th floor flat in Sudhakar building, Malabar Hill, on August 14, 2003. Police found 21 injuries on her body, including a massive head injury, a broken jaw, a ruptured liver and numerous stab wounds. 

• Police arrested four persons for the murder: Narendra Goel, Agarwal’s son-in-law, and Pradeep Parab, Pawankumar Goenka and Manohar Shinde, all of whom took care of huge properties belonging to Agarwal.

• According to police, there was a property dispute in the Agarwal family, among the brothers Suresh, Subhash, and Shekhar and sisters Asha, Uma, Aruna and Karuna, over a textile mill owned by their father Ranchondas Agarwal. The issue reportedly caused frequent quarrels in the family.  

• Parab subsequently confessed before the magistrate that he and Suresh Agarwal’s son-in-law Narendra Goel and Subhash Agarwal’s employee Pawan Goenka had hatched a conspiracy to kill Dr Goel.   

Goel murder still being investigated

By MANDI HARGRAVE Staff Reporter

More than 2 1/2 years after the discovery of her brutally beaten body in a brother’s home in India, the police investigation of Dr. Asha Goel’s murder is continuing and trial of the suspects is still a year away.

The now-deceased brother, Suresh Agrawal, is believed to have conspired with three other men, whom Indian police named last October. They have now named another brother who lives in Ottawa, Subhash, as being involved in a conspiracy involving who in the family should inherit properties in India said to be worth about $5 million.

Visiting Orangeville this week from his home in Vancouver, Asha’s son Sanjay said that brother has taken the position of not being involved in the murder, that he has been unfairly accused, and he is the victim of a personal vilification effort by Sanjay.

Sanjay says he has never accused his uncle, but rather that it was the Indian police who came to the conclusion that he was involved.

However, Sanjay also says that if his uncle is innocent he should cooperate with the police and travel to India to participate in interviews and questioning.

Sanjay said police were told who was involved in the crime and how it happened by one suspect, Pradeep Parab, who confessed in front of a magistrate.

The other men named in the case are Narendra Goel, Suresh’s son-in-law, Manohar Shinde, manager of one Suresh’s properties, and Pawankumar Goenka, Subhash’s key property manager in India.

Mr. Parab was the night manager of a property owned by Suresh, who was ill at the time of the murder and died two months later.

Sanjay went on to explain that when someone makes a confession in front a magistrate in India, no police are there so that the suspect does not feel pressure or fear to confess as it would only be the suspect, magistrate and a court stenographer in the room.

Sanjay said Mr. Parab had undergone lie-detector tests, brain mapping and, most importantly sodium pentothal (“truth serum”) interrogations.

At the time of her death, Asha was chief of obstetrics and gynaecology at Headwaters Health Care Centre and her husband was, and still is, a surgeon at the Orangeville hospital. He described the drug given Mr. Parab as one that frees people from their inhibitions, which allows the truth to come out.

While under the drug, Mr. Parab described his involvement in the crime, as well as who else was involved and how it occurred.

Sanjay said he doesn’t think people fully understand the horrible brutality of the crime against his mother.

He said there were 21 points of injury to her body by a vegetable peeler, a vegetable pairing knife, a pillow and a piece of a granite baseboard used in her murder.

Sanjay stated the forensic examiner said it would have taken between 10 and 15 minutes for Asha to die from the variety of injuries. The injuries included being blinded, a broken jaw, a massive head injury, a ruptured liver and numerous stab wounds.

“She fought valiantly, she struggled with all her might against three men, Parab, Shinde and Goenka,” Sanjay said the magistrate was told.

“No one should ever have to die that way. We see plenty of images of people who have lost their lives on television, but they mostly have a function of a single gunshot wound, not through torture and that’s what happened here to my mom.”

He described his mother as “a woman of healing, who brought life into the world and whose life was taken in the worst possible way.”

He said people “have said to me from time to time, ‘your mother died’ or

you lost your mother,’ things of that nature. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

“My mother was stolen, she was taken, brutality, from her family, her community, the patients and so many thousands of people who cared for her and whose lives she touched,” Sanjay said.

He continued, “It’s not just a death, it’s not just a murder. It’s a level of savagery and inhumanity that incenses us each day, still to this day.”

Sanjay said the case has three elements. The first includes people who conspired and planned the murder, the second includes people who carried out the murder and the third is people who have actively tried to cover up the crime and prevent justice from occurring.

“Thus far, the people who have been arrested are solely in the area of executing the crime. We have not yet arrested or possibly fully found out all those people who were involved in hatching the conspiracy and crime and certainly we haven’t found or fully identified all of the people who were involved in covering up the crime, including the mismanagement, mishandling or destruction of evidence,” he said.

Sanjay said there are people who know of the crime and are associated with it who still need to be examined and punished.

“Really the issue is, now that we know – and the police seem extremely certain through their methods they’ve made it quite clear – that these individuals are involved. The issue is whether they’re convicted and for how long and what the appropriate punishment is. In a way, nothing would be worse than knowing who these people are and then them not facing the full wrath of justice.”

The Goel family cannot understand why the case of the Ianieros, the husband and wife murdered in Mexico, has received more attention and co-operation from the Canadian government than Asha’s case.

“This is a Canadian problem, not an Indian problem,” said Sanjay, whose parents were in Canada for many more years than in India.

With the Indian police naming a Canadian in the case, Sanjay said, one would expect the Canadian government would take an active role. Anything less than that would mean criminals could wait for Canadians to go on holidays and commit the crime in a foreign location.

“I don’t think any Canadian would be comfortable if they heard that,” he said.

Sanjay said he, his sisters Rashmi and Seema, as well as his father, have not had the chance since his mother’s murder to sit in a room alone and talk about her. They also haven’t had the opportunity to properly grieve, as they’ve been trying to solve the case ever since it happened.

Sadan Goel said he finds it very difficult to believe that his wife’s brothers were involved because in his culture he has never heard of something like this happening.

He said it’s difficult to cope with his loss but they have to fight to bring the people who committed the crime to justice.

Goel murder still being investigated

By MANDI HARGRAVE Staff Reporter

More than 2 1/2 years after the discovery of her brutally beaten body in a brother’s home in India, the police investigation of Dr. Asha Goel’s murder is continuing and trial of the suspects is still a year away.

The now-deceased brother, Suresh Agrawal, is believed to have conspired with three other men, whom Indian police named last October. They have now named another brother who lives in Ottawa, Subhash, as being involved in a conspiracy involving who in the family should inherit properties in India said to be worth about $5 million.

Visiting Orangeville this week from his home in Vancouver, Asha’s son Sanjay said that brother has taken the position of not being involved in the murder, that he has been unfairly accused, and he is the victim of a personal vilification effort by Sanjay.

Sanjay says he has never accused his uncle, but rather that it was the Indian police who came to the conclusion that he was involved.

However, Sanjay also says that if his uncle is innocent he should cooperate with the police and travel to India to participate in interviews and questioning.

Sanjay said police were told who was involved in the crime and how it happened by one suspect, Pradeep Parab, who confessed in front of a magistrate.

The other men named in the case are Narendra Goel, Suresh’s son-in-law, Manohar Shinde, manager of one Suresh’s properties, and Pawankumar Goenka, Subhash’s key property manager in India.

Mr. Parab was the night manager of a property owned by Suresh, who was ill at the time of the murder and died two months later.

Sanjay went on to explain that when someone makes a confession in front a magistrate in India, no police are there so that the suspect does not feel pressure or fear to confess as it would only be the suspect, magistrate and a court stenographer in the room.

Sanjay said Mr. Parab had undergone lie-detector tests, brain mapping and, most importantly sodium pentothal (“truth serum”) interrogations.

At the time of her death, Asha was chief of obstetrics and gynaecology at Headwaters Health Care Centre and her husband was, and still is, a surgeon at the Orangeville hospital. He described the drug given Mr. Parab as one that frees people from their inhibitions, which allows the truth to come out.

While under the drug, Mr. Parab described his involvement in the crime, as well as who else was involved and how it occurred.

Sanjay said he doesn’t think people fully understand the horrible brutality of the crime against his mother.

He said there were 21 points of injury to her body by a vegetable peeler, a vegetable pairing knife, a pillow and a piece of a granite baseboard used in her murder.

Sanjay stated the forensic examiner said it would have taken between 10 and 15 minutes for Asha to die from the variety of injuries. The injuries included being blinded, a broken jaw, a massive head injury, a ruptured liver and numerous stab wounds.

“She fought valiantly, she struggled with all her might against three men, Parab, Shinde and Goenka,” Sanjay said the magistrate was told.

“No one should ever have to die that way. We see plenty of images of people who have lost their lives on television, but they mostly have a function of a single gunshot wound, not through torture and that’s what happened here to my mom.”

He described his mother as “a woman of healing, who brought life into the world and whose life was taken in the worst possible way.”

He said people “have said to me from time to time, ‘your mother died’ or

you lost your mother,’ things of that nature. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

“My mother was stolen, she was taken, brutality, from her family, her community, the patients and so many thousands of people who cared for her and whose lives she touched,” Sanjay said.

He continued, “It’s not just a death, it’s not just a murder. It’s a level of savagery and inhumanity that incenses us each day, still to this day.”

Sanjay said the case has three elements. The first includes people who conspired and planned the murder, the second includes people who carried out the murder and the third is people who have actively tried to cover up the crime and prevent justice from occurring.

“Thus far, the people who have been arrested are solely in the area of executing the crime. We have not yet arrested or possibly fully found out all those people who were involved in hatching the conspiracy and crime and certainly we haven’t found or fully identified all of the people who were involved in covering up the crime, including the mismanagement, mishandling or destruction of evidence,” he said.

Sanjay said there are people who know of the crime and are associated with it who still need to be examined and punished.

“Really the issue is, now that we know – and the police seem extremely certain through their methods they’ve made it quite clear – that these individuals are involved. The issue is whether they’re convicted and for how long and what the appropriate punishment is. In a way, nothing would be worse than knowing who these people are and then them not facing the full wrath of justice.”

The Goel family cannot understand why the case of the Ianieros, the husband and wife murdered in Mexico, has received more attention and co-operation from the Canadian government than Asha’s case.

“This is a Canadian problem, not an Indian problem,” said Sanjay, whose parents were in Canada for many more years than in India.

With the Indian police naming a Canadian in the case, Sanjay said, one would expect the Canadian government would take an active role. Anything less than that would mean criminals could wait for Canadians to go on holidays and commit the crime in a foreign location.

“I don’t think any Canadian would be comfortable if they heard that,” he said.

Sanjay said he, his sisters Rashmi and Seema, as well as his father, have not had the chance since his mother’s murder to sit in a room alone and talk about her. They also haven’t had the opportunity to properly grieve, as they’ve been trying to solve the case ever since it happened.

Sadan Goel said he finds it very difficult to believe that his wife’s brothers were involved because in his culture he has never heard of something like this happening.

He said it’s difficult to cope with his loss but they have to fight to bring the people who committed the crime to justice.

$5-million feud kills family peacemaker

Sister slain trying to end inheritance battle

Friday, March 17,2006

JONATHAN WOODWARD

She always believed her brothers would rise above a bitter feud over the $5-million left by their father. But as the rift deepened, Canadian obstetrician Asha Goel travelled to India to persuade her brothers to share the inheritance — and behave like a family.Only days after she confronted one brother, her battered body was found in his apartment in Mumbai. Since then, her husband, son and son-in-law have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in a two-year fight to bring her killers to justice.In October, they got some good news: Indian police named three men they believe conspired with that brother, Suresh Agrawal, to kill Dr. Goel. And now the lead investigator in the case has named in Indian court another man they say was involved in the plot to kill her: her brother, Subhash, who currently lives in Ottawa.”It’s extraordinary,” said Dr. Goel’s son, Sanjay, 40, who lives in Vancouver.

“It’s like a movie.”According to court documents, police allege that Subhash Agrawal, 56, was part of a conspiracy to kill his sister. Subhash challenged the accusations in Mumbai High Court last week, saying that he is the target of a vindictive smear campaign and that there is “not a whisper” of evidence against him.To Suresh and Subhash, two of Dr. Goel’s three brothers, the estate — $5-million worth of properties, including a lodge and the family’s penthouse suite in the posh Mumbai enclave of Malabar Hill — was their home and their business. When their father died in 1986, it seemed natural they would inherit it.But according to Indian tradition, a father’s wealth is inherited by all his sons. When the youngest son, Shekhar Agrawal, who lives in Los Angeles, fathered a boy — the first Agrawal male in 38 years — Shekhar decided to claim his share for his family line.Subhash and Suresh produced a will that granted them the estate, according to court documents. Subhash adopted an infant boy, Sanjay Goel said.Enraged at what he thought was his brothers’ trickery, Shekhar sued them, and the rift in the family grew.

According to Sanjay, his mother and her three sisters felt their brothers’ anger. The siblings abandoned a ceremony they did their entire lives — Rakhi, a traditional celebration of the bond of love between brothers and sisters.But Dr. Goel, the chief obstetrician at Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville, Ont., who presided at the births of more than 10,000 babies since arriving in Canada 43 years ago, shielded her children from the worst.”To my mom’s credit, she never really exposed the kids to the depth of the issue because she didn’t want it to affect the way we felt about the concept of family,” Sanjay said.”Mother was a professional. She was the person that everyone looked up to, everyone paid homage to. She was successful, and everyone turned to her for advice.”When Suresh was hospitalized for kidney failure in 2003, Dr. Goel and Sanjay visited him. According to Sanjay, she told her brothers to either share the wealth among the three of them and become a family again or she and her three sisters would lay claim to the property under India’s modern inheritance laws.Instead of getting one-third of the wealth, she said, the brothers would get one-seventh.

There was a fierce quarrel over the property, and Sanjay returned to Vancouver to his cruise ship business, Cruise Connections Canada, leaving his mother with her sisters. Five days after he left, his mother was found slumped on Suresh’s guest bed, stabbed 20 times and beaten with a granite slab that was left broken at the scene.”I got a terrible phone call from my father,” Sanjay said. “He said, ‘Your mother is dead.’ I couldn’t believe it.”I was the last person in our immediate family to see her alive. My sisters didn’t. My father didn’t. I was the last one. I still regret to this day that when she said, ‘Should I come home now?’ I didn’t say, ‘Yes, Mom. Let me organize it.’ “

Some 40 hours after that phone call, Sanjay stood in Mumbai with his father, Sadan, his sister and his uncle Shekhar.”I felt like someone had pulled a rug from under my feet,” Sadan Goel said about his wife’s death. “I couldn’t believe it.”[Suresh] said it’s a suicide. He said there’s some injury to the head. I said that’s impossible. No one does a suicide by hitting the head. I said, probably she’s been killed. He couldn’t answer me.”Subhash, who lived in Montreal at the time, heard of the homicide and demanded that a property manager, Pawankumar Goenka, help the police investigation. Subhash rushed to India, arriving the day after.There were no signs of forced entry in Suresh’s apartment, and only some costume jewellery, a small sum in rupees and a camera were missing, according to Sanjay, who said the items were collectively worth no more than $2,000.”To this day, I still haven’t gone back into that room,” Sanjay said.The slaying took place more than two years ago, and Sanjay said it has been a troubling and frustrating odyssey for the family.Pradeep Parab, one of Suresh’s employees, was arrested 10 days after the killing, but was later released because of a lack of evidence.Suresh’s health problems finally claimed him two months later, and the Indian police reassigned the case. Frustrated by the slow pace of the Indian investigation, Sanjay and his father began travelling to India, placing ads in Mumbai newspapers, asking police to continue the investigation, and eventually hiring private investigators to keep track of Mr. Parab.

Over the next months, Indian police said, Mr. Parab voluntarily underwent lie-detector tests, brain mapping, and sodium pentothal interrogations.Police said Mr. Parab told a magistrate in September of 2005 that he was involved in Dr. Goel’s death, and gave police crucial evidence that led to the naming of three more men linked closely to Dr. Goel’s brothers, according to Indian court documents.The three named were Suresh’s son-in-law Narendra Goel; the house manager of one of his properties, Manohar Shinde; and Subhash’s property manager, Mr. Goenka.According to Mumbai Crime Branch senior investigator Jaywald Hargude, the three were questioned and pointed to Suresh as the mastermind.In December, police filed charge sheets — a summary of evidence and a recommendation of charges to Indian court — against Mr. Parab and the three he named. In those charge sheets and in subsequent court filings, police also accused Subhash of conspiring with the men and declared he is a wanted man. “The investigation in this case . . . clearly points towards the existence of a criminal conspiracy which was essentially hatched by none other than the deceased’s own brothers,” Mr. Hargude wrote in a court filing.

The motive that shattered the powerful, wealthy Indian family? A quarrel over the inheritance, he wrote.Police have summoned Subhash to India for further questioning, but have not formally recommended charges, Mr. Hargude said.No formal extradition process has begun, but Mr. Hargude said in an interview he would pursue Subhash. Ottawa police acknowledged last week that they had received and acted on requests for information about the case.Subhash’s Canadian lawyer, Jacques Shore of Ottawa, said Subhash had received the summons which, to him, was a shocking part of a continuing horrible ordeal.”He has been devastated. His business dealings have been ruptured. Everything that he had that was normal in his life has essentially been altered since this horrific death of his sister,” he said in an interview.Subhash has done everything to co-operate with the Indian investigation, Mr. Shore said, but could not travel to India because of serious diabetes and a kidney condition. He’s offered to be interrogated in Canada through a progatory commission, but Indian police haven’t taken him up on that offer, he said.Subhash doesn’t know why he is accused, but it appears to be a “vilification campaign” launched by Sanjay Goel to “rope” him into the crime, he claims in court documents that were argued last Thursday in Mumbai High Court, pointing to statements Mr. Goel has made in Indian news media.”The family dispute over property is nothing but a figment of imagination of [Inspector Hargude],” his Indian lawyers wrote.

The argument was actually over the family’s unrelated Canadian properties, in which Subhash was not interested, he claimed.Police have “assaulted and tortured” his staff looking for confessions, he wrote in court, and until the police produce evidence and charge him, they must stop defaming him in public through an “illegal, null and void” investigation, he said.Police fired back in court that Subhash is accused and doesn’t have a right to see the evidence against him, calling again for him to return to India.The court said the investigation should continue, but demanded last Thursday to see a summary of the investigator’s evidence before the court resumes on March 23.Sanjay said the expanding police investigation — one that Mr. Hargude indicated will soon span two continents — means it is time for the Canadian government to act on information it took him, his brother-in-law and his father 26 visits to India and $500,000 spent on flights, hotels and the salaries of private investigators to compile.”It’s not an Indian problem,” he said. “It was a Canadian over there. Whether there had been a Canadian aspect in the conspiracy or not, it should have warranted the full attention of the Canadian government.”The recent slayings of two Canadians in Mexico have warranted a lot of Canadian attention, he said.”Canada should be here: The story shouldn’t be, ‘I’m sorry, it’s in India, we can’t get involved.’ “Kim Girtel, a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said the government was in contact with the Mumbai investigators.Sanjay says the ordeal has shattered his faith in the power of family his mother so strongly believed in.Part of him refuses to believe that a family member could be involved. “It’s unthinkable,” he said.

Who’s who:

Dr. Asha Goel: A Canadian obstetrician found brutally murdered in her brother’s apartment in India.

Her immediate family:

Dr. Sadan Goel: Orangeville, Ont., doctor and husband of Dr. Asha Goel.

Sanjay Goel: Vancouver businessman and son of Dr. Asha Goel.

The brothers that contested Dr. Asha Goel’s father’s $5-million estate:

Suresh Agrawal: Mumbai businessman accused posthumously of conspiracy to murder Dr. Asha Goel.

Subhash Agrawal: Ottawa resident and Canadian citizen accused in court by Indian police of conspiracy to murder Dr. Asha Goel.

Shekhar Agrawal: Los Angeles resident who sued Subhash and Suresh Agrawal over their father’s $5-million inheritance.

The investigator:

Jaywald Hargude: Mumbai Crime Branch inspector.

Police have recommended charges against:

Pradeep Parab: Employee of Suresh.

Narendra Goel: Son-in-law of Suresh.

Manohar Shinde: Manager of one of Suresh’s properties.

Pawankumar Goenka: Subhash’s key property manager in India.

Canadian charged with killing doctor over family fortune

Charges have been laid against an Ottawa businessman for the killing of his sister two years ago in India, a murder that triggered more than 13,000 petitions from across the world that urged the Canadian government to help solve the case.

Subhash Agrawal, 55, and five others, including a deceased brother, were accused with the murder of their sister, Canadian doctor Asha Goel while she was visiting their hometown of Mumbai.

The victim’s Vancouver-based son Sanjay Goel told The Asian Pacific Post:

“The Canadian government must now need to cooperate so that the perpetrators of the crime are finally brought to justice.”

“It is the responsibility of Canada to ensure justice for a citizen of Canada who was the victim of a crime planned in Canada,” Sanjay Goel said, echoing police accusations that his his Ottawa-based uncle Agrawal, masterminded his mother’s murder.

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. Her murder came in the midst of a bitter dispute over a $5 million family inheritance that has pitted her and another brother against Agrawal and elder Suresh Agrawal who died weeks after she was killed in 2003.

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. She was determined not to let Suresh and Subhash take over the properties if they were doing Shekhar out of his share,’’ media quoted police.

The Asian Pacific Post sought Agrawal for comment but his wife said he is under sedation following a recent psychiatric treatment. “Somebody is framing him. There is not a whisper of evidence against my husband,” Agrawal’s wife said over phone. The suspect’s wife also said that “somebody was paying police in India’’ to implicate her husband but she did not say who, except to claim that “there is a conspiracy.” She said that her husband has been under a lot of stress and he was recently confined in a hospital for psychiatric treatment for 10 ys.

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 August 23, 2003. The recipient of the money Anand Agarwal has not been not included in the charge sheet.

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.

At least 13,000 people from across North America, Europe and Africa 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.”

‘I will find my mother’s killers’

By Mata Press Service

She delivered 10,000 babies in Canada during her 40 years as a doctor. Two years ago, she was found murdered in Mumbai. Now her son is on a quest to find who killed his mother.

Vancouver travel agent Sanjay Goel starts his morning making phone calls to a city some 12,000 miles away.

During the day there are another half a dozen calls to Mumbai as well.

Before going to bed there is a final one to the city on the edge of the Arabian Sea, his family’s hometown and the place where his mother was murdered.

This daily routine has been going on for Goel after his mother Dr. Asha Goel, 62, a Canadian obstetrician and gynaecologist who trained and practiced in Saskatchewan and Ontario for 40 years, was killed in Mumbai in August 2003 while visiting a brother.

Since then, Goel, 41, a Canadian-born businessman whose company sells sunshine cruises and luxury holidays, has been on a quest for to bring his mothers killers to justice.

“I have to. I don’t have a choice. I won’t stop,” Goel said in an interview with The Asian Pacific Post, after one of his many daily telephone calls to police, friends and relatives in Mumbai.

The murder of Dr. Goel is rooted in a violent inheritance dispute involving some C$5 million worth of ancestral wealth and her three brothers.

So far, the Goel family has gathered 13,000 signatures from across North America, Europe and Africa for a petition urging Ottawa, particularly the office of Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew to ensure that all possible avenues of investigation are pursued, and to “compel the Indian Government to commit the necessary resources to solve this case.”

“There is no question that there were three groups involved: The first one which planned the murder, the second group which executed the murder, and a third group which did the cover-up,” Goel said.

Indian police according to Goel, believe the crime was an offshoot of a dispute involving his mother’s three brothers over property and assets left behind by his late grandfather, a former landed Canadian immigrant himself, who died in 1986.

Goel said that since the mid-1990s, his mother’s brothers-Suresh Agarwal, Subhash Agarwal and Shekhar Agarwal–have been locked in a civil litigation in Mumbai over their inheritance. The case is still pending in court.

The Times of India quoted police investigator J K Hargude: “Dr. Goel had got wind of a conspiracy by her brother, Suresh, to usurp their ancestral properties in Mumbai. What angered Dr. Goel 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.”

“Dr. Goel had initially not shown any interest in the Mumbai properties, but on learning that Shekhar was being sidelined, had fought with Suresh. She was determined not to let Suresh and Subhash take over the properties if they were doing Shekhar out of his share,” Hargude was quoted as saying.

Goel remembers the days leading up to the murder of his mother.

It was July 2003 and one of his sisters was getting married. After the wedding Dr. Goel told her son that she must go to India and visit Suresh who was then undergoing kidney dialysis. “She was very happy that I would be traveling with her and we flew first class,” said Goel.

On the night of Aug 16, 2003, Dr. Goel and her son went to Suresh’s residence at the 14th floor of the Sudhakar Building in the plush Malabar Hill and a heated discussion between the siblings ensued regarding Subhash’s allegations.

Goel returned to Canada ahead of his mother to whom he last spoke with on Aug 21.

A day before Dr. Goel was to leave for Canada, Suresh called up, apologized, and asked her to spend the night at Malabar Hill. Not wanting to leave Mumbai on bad terms with her brother, Dr. Goel consented.

“He had planned a perfect murder,” says police investigator Hargude. Suresh had ordered his son-in-law Narendra Goel to hire three men to kill Dr Goel.

The assailants had a kitchen knife and two slabs of granite.

Dr Goel, who delivered more than 10,000 babies in Canada, was bludgeoned, repeatedly stabbed, slashed in the neck and her jaw was broken.

One month after the murder a suspect was arrested. But the case was stonewalled.

Goel’s began his campaign to go after the killers.

The case was transferred in January 2004 to the elite “Crime Branch” detectives of the Mumbai Police.

Their unit extracted a confession from the suspect before a magistrate. He admitted having killed Dr. Goel. He also revealed that Dr Goel’s brother Suresh masterminded the killing.

Suresh, however, had died in early November 2003. The suspect also named others.

Three months ago, more than two years after the murder, Indian police arrested another three men including son-in-law Narendra Goel. Formal murder charges have yet to be laid.

While he welcomed the arrests, Goel said that the case is far from being fully solved unless “all parties involved are brought to justice and be made responsible to the fullest extent of the law.”

“There are still people out there who know the details of this crime,” Goel said.

The Goel family had set up an elaborate website (www.ashagoel.ca) to gather support in their campaign to pressure the Indian government to see through the case.

They have also put up an email address (tips@ashagoel.ca) to accept tips and leads.

The family is offering a reward of one million Indian rupees (about C$26,000) for information that would crack the case wide open.

Goel said his mother spent her teenage years in Mumbai. She graduated from Topiwala National Medical College in Mumbai.

The family has set up a scholarship there in her name, which will go to a deserving female student each year.

Medicine is a cornerstone for the Goel family. Dr. Goel was chief obstetrician at the Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville, Ontario where her husband Dr. S.K. Goel is a surgeon.

Goel said his mother “chose Canada for her home, as the place she would raise her family and practice her discipline.

She was a Canadian citizen, and was proud to contribute to a health care system that is both compassionate and competent. She was also a child of India, one who never forgot or forsook her roots.”

Goel is preparing for his next trip to Mumbai next February, the 15th time he will be returning to the city where his mother was murdered.

“There’s not a single day that I don’t weep for my mother,” he said.

Arrests made in murder of Orangeville doctor

More than two years after Orangeville doctor Asha Goel was murdered while visiting her brother in Mumbai, India, police have arrested three men in connection with her death.

Goel, who was chief of obstetrics and gynaecology at Headwaters Health Centre, was found dead in an apartment in Mumbai on Aug. 23, 2003 — only a few hours before she was to return to Canada.

“This awful crime has devastated us,” says husband Dr. S. K. Goel, a surgeon at Headwaters. “We are relieved that the authorities have found some of the people responsible for my wife’s death, but we believe there are likely more arrests to be made.

“Asha is deeply missed by the community here,” he says. “She was a very fine doctor, and always took the time to care for her patients, friends and colleagues. They have collected thousands of signatures to help us.”

Earlier this month, the Mumbai police announced the arrests of three men who had connections to the family — Narendra Goel, son-in-law of Suresh Agrawal, the brother Goel was visiting in India; M. Shinde, an employee of Agrawal; and Pawankumar Goenka, an employee of Subhash Agrawal of Ottawa, one of Goel’s two other brothers.

The Times of India reported the motivation for the crime is an apparent property dispute among Goel’s siblings.

According to reports in the Indian media, all the people arrested so far had been under suspicion from the earliest days of the case, but the arrests were delayed due to a lack of physical evidence.

The Indian media has also reported the handling of the case has “raised eyebrows” in police circles there. The case was transferred in January 2004 to the elite Crime Branch detectives of the Mumbai Police.

“My mother was an innocent woman, a doctor whose life was devoted to helping other people,” says son Sanjay Goel. “It is unthinkable that anyone would want to harm her, much less as a large conspiracy as it now appears was involved. There are still many unanswered questions.”

The Goel family has been pressuring authorities in India and in Canada to resolve the case — and last year began a petition, which now has more than 11,000 signatures, requesting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assistance. Sanjay Goel says the support of the federal government is important to the outcome of the investigation and punishment of those responsible.

“Future progress in this case may depend on the Canadian government,” says Sanjay Goel. “Although we are grateful for the assistance of the Canadian High Commission staff in Mumbai, we believe that the Canadian government must now take an active role in the investigation to ensure that all avenues are pursued and the guilty brought to justice.”

Brother set up NRI doc’s murder over property row

By Somit Sen/TNN

Mumbai: A murder that shocked Mumbai-that of NRI obstetrician Asha Goel (62) who was bludgeoned to death at Malabar Hill in August 2003-has finally been solved by the crime branch. Three persons, including a relative, were arrested in the case on Saturday evening.

The motive behind the killing, says investigating officer J K Hargude, was not a dispute over a guest house as believed. “Asha had got wind of a conspiracy by her brother, Suresh, to usurp their ancestral properties in Mumbai worth crores of rupees,” he says. “What angered Asha was Suresh’s plan to share 50% 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 had initially not shown any interest in the Mumbai properties, but on learning that Shekhar was being sidelined, had fought with Suresh and demanded her share. “She was de termined not to let Suresh and Subhash take over the properties if they were doing Shekhar out of his share,” says Hargude. Asha had a verbal duel with Suresh for almost an entire day at the latter’s residence in Sudhakar Co-operative Society in Malabar Hill. She finally packed her bags and left in anger. She went to Santa Cruz where she stayed with her sister for a week.

Says Hargude, “Asha had flown down to Mumbai on August 16 to visit Suresh, who was undergoing dialysis and his wife who had suffered a stroke. But her sympathy vanished when she came to know of her brother’s desire to acquire the properties.” A day before she was to leave for Canada , Suresh called up Asha and apologised on the phone. Presuming that he had mended his ways, Asha returned to Malabar Hill and agreed to spend the night there. Little did she realise that a larger conspiracy-to eliminate her-was being planned.

Suresh asked Asha to sleep in a bedroom which was close to the main hall. “He had planned a perfect murder,” says Hargude. Suresh had asked his son-in-law, Narendra (43), to prepare three men for the job, one of whom was Pradeep Parab, the manager of their guest house in Bhuleshwar. The other two were Manohar Shinde (50) and Pavankumar Goenka (43), an employee of Subhash Goel.

The police said that Goenka had keys to an adjacent flat owned by Subhash. “There are two flats on the floor and they have a common door, but there is only one bolt accessible from Subhash’s flat,” says deputy commissioner (crime) Dhananjay Kamlakar. As per the plan, Goenka, along with Parab and Shinde, arrived in Narendra’s car, parked it outside and walked into the building. The watchman knew them well. Goenka opened the adjacent flat and entered Suresh’s apartment from the common door. The two others followed him.

They quickly entered Asha’s room, which was close to the main hall. Suresh was asleep in one of the bedrooms (with a male attendant sleeping on the floor) while his wife Kamini slept in another (a maidservant sleeping in her room). The assailants had a kitchen knife and two slabs of granite. “They bludgeoned the senior citizen and stabbed her repeatedly with a knife on the chest and neck. They then escaped from the same route,” says Kamlakar.

Parab was arrested within a month and admitted to having killed the woman. But the police claim he did not reveal the names of his accomplices until the crime branch began its probe and extracted his confession in front of a magistrate. The police have also conducted a lie detector, brain-mapping and narco test on him. “He has revealed the names of his accomplices. Though Suresh Goel subsequently died, he is a prime accused in the murder,” says Kamlakar.

2-year delay raises questions

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: The failure of the Malabar Hill police station to solve the Asha Goel murder has raised eyebrows in police circles. The case was finally cracked only after the investigations were handed over to the crime branch.

A section in the police force raised doubts about the credibility of the Malabar Hill police which had initially handled the case. “The suspects were insiders and the motive was a property dispute. Everybody, including the three men arrested on Saturday, was available for questioning two years ago. How is it that the police took so many months to arrest the men?” an IPS officer asked.

The then senior Inspector of Malabar Hill police, M U Patil, now retired, had arrested Pradeep Parab within a month of the murder. Parab was the manager of a guest house owned by the Goels in Bhuleshwar. During interrogation, Parab is believed to have spilled the beans and revealed the names of his accomplices. But it is not clear why the Malabar Hill police made no arrests. Parab, sources said, had dis closed to the Malabar Hill cops that a relative of Goel had offered money to kill the doctor. He said he had made a phone call from his cellphone to Goel’s relative a few minutes after the murder. The police had then questioned this relative, but allowed him to go.

During his interrogation, Pawar mentioned the names of Goel’s relatives involved in the conspiracy. But this was not taken on record by the investigators, a source revealed. In fact, following a series of reports in TOI on the “shoddy” probe by Malabar Hill police, the police finally came out with a statement: “Pawar has named Suresh Goel as the prime conspirator in the case.” But it was perhaps too late. Suresh, who was suffering from a kidney problem, was by then dead. And the buck stopped there.

Police chief A N Roy said the case was “complicated”. “It took us time to investigate it scientifically before arresting the suspects,” he said. “Also, one of the accused, Suresh Goel, died within a month of the murder. This also delayed the probe.” Roy said the Malabar Hill police had done a “good job”. “It is easy to blame them for the delay. But it was not easy to get the deceased’s relatives for questioning. It was not an ordinary murder case,” he said. Actually, the Malabar Hill police did precious little to follow up on their lead. Sources in the department said they suspected the role of Narendra, Suresh’s son-in-law, but did not take him into custody. “The police also knew that the assailants had entered through the adjacent flat, the keys of which were with Pawankumar Goenka. He too was let off in the case and arrested only last Saturday,” an officer stated. While refusing to comment on the investigations done by their counter parts at Malabar Hill, the crime branch officers said: “We got the case about a year ago and wanted to investigate it scientifically as the accused persons were influential and rich people.”

Said an officer, “We took Parab, Narendra, Shinde, Goenkar and six more people for lie detector, brain mapping and narco analysis tests to Bangalore . The tests and the analysis reports took about eight months to confirm the role of the three men. The clinching evidence in the case was the statement given by Parab in front of the magistrate, to whom he has disclosed the entire conspiracy hatched by Suresh Goel.”

NRI’s fight to find mum’s killers ends

Monday, October 03, 2005 | Front page

Online campaign succeeds in netting three who murdered doc for property

Bhupen Patel

Canada-based NRI Sanjay Goel (35) has finally ‘netted’ his mother Asha Goel’s killers. After his repeated visits to Mumbai had been of no help in finding those who murdered doctor Asha Goel at her brother’s flat at Malabar Hill in August 2003, Sanjay had launched a virtual hunt. He started a website – www.ashagoel.ca – to demand quick action from the cops, offered a reward of Rs 10 lakh to anyone who gave him information on the crime and even submitted an online petition to the Canadian government urging it to compel the Indian government to solve the case.

His campaign has now ended. Manohar Mahadev Shinde (50), Pavankumar Satyanarayan Goyank (43) and Narendra Ghanshyamdas Goel (43) were arrested by unit-II of the Mumbai police crime branch (unit-2) on Saturday for his mother’s murder.

Narendra is Asha’s brother Suresh Agarwal’s son-in-law, while Goyank was one of his ex-employees.

Investigators believe that the motive behind the murder was the Little Lodge guesthouse in Bhuleshwar, which Asha Goel owned and which her brother’s son-in-law and his accomplices wanted.

Pradeep Parab, manager of Agarwal’s guesthouse who was the first to be arrested in the case in September 2003, had named Asha Goel’s brother too. Suresh Agarwal, though, died a natural death from paralysis.

Sanjay, who owns a cruise company in Canada, had been in constant touch with the investigators and kept himself updated on the latest developments.

Whenever necessary, he also came down to Mumbai to meet the deputy chief minister, the police commissioner and the police officers at Malabar Hill police station to assist in the probe.

Hearing of the arrests, Sanjay, currently on a business trip to Italy, said: “Today is the 768th day since the crime happened. My faith in the Mumbai crime branch has been justified. I put in a lot of effort to put an end to the mystery of my mother’s murder.”

Asked who he would give the promised Rs 10 lakh reward to, he said: “The money will go to the person who plays a vital role in securing the conviction of the accused. The police have only arrested the killers now. There is still a lot to do before the case is closed.” 

THE CASE

•  On August 24, 2003 Asha was found dead in her Sudhakar Co-opHsg Society flat at Dabholkar Marg, Malabar Hill. Suresh informed the Malabar Hill police. A case was registered.

•  In September 2003, Malabar Hill police arrested Pradeep Parab, a friend of one of the maidservants, but the case remained unsolved

•  On October 1, 2005, the cops finally arrested the murderers

‘The response is tremendous’

Wednesday, July 20, 2005 | City

Says Sanjay Goel after Mumbai Mirror story on website he set up to find mom’s killer

Rimona Ellis

On July 16, Mumbai Mirror had published an article about Sanjay Goel’s efforts to bring his mother Dr Asha Goel’s killers to book. Since then, 3,150 people have signed the petition (pleading with the Canadian government to pressurise the Indian government into doing something about the case) and 80 people have e-mailed Sanjay sending condolences and sympathy messages. Interestingly, he also received 20 e-mails from people suggesting he pay them first before they provide him with any information.”I thank Mumbai Mirror for publishing the article and creating awareness. I have received a tremendous response from Indians and you all have supported me in a big way,” said Sanjay. The website www.ashagoel.ca that was launched recently enables anyone with information to post it online. Apart from this, Sanjay has even decided to launch a hunt and is offering a reward of Rs 10 lakh to anyone with information about the crime.

The brutal murder

Sixty-two-year-old Dr Asha Goel was found brutally murdered at her brother Sureshchandra Agarwal’s flat at Malabar Hill in August 2003. She had come to Mumbai to visit her brother as he had been unwell. Dr Asha had been struck on the head, and her jaw broken. She was also repeatedly stabbed and blinded. When the Agarwals were informed about the murder by a maidservant, they called the Malabar Hill police. Initially, Agarwal told the police that robbery was the motive behind the murder after it was discovered that Dr Asha’s gold ring and Rs 1.20 lakh was missing from her house. However, since the culprit seemed to have gained entry into the house without a struggle, police suspected the involvement of someone Dr Asha knew. During the course of investigations, the maidservants and building watchman told police that Pradeep Parab, a manager at Agarwal’s guest house at Bhuleshwar had visited Dr Asha the evening of the murder. He was taken into custody for investigations.Parab later named Agarwal himself as the chief conspirator.However, just days after Parab’s confession, Agarwal died of old age. Later, even Parab was released from jail. The case was initially with Malabar Hill police, and after no breakthrough happened, it was taken over by the state CID.

3,150 people have signed the petition (pleading with the Canadian government to pressurise the Indian government into doing something about the case)

80 People have e-mailed Sanjay sending condolences and sympathy messages

20 People have sent him emails suggesting he pay them first before they provide any information

NRI sets up fund for mum’s killers

Saturday, July 16, 2005 | Front page

Danish Khan

• Sets up website to conduct ‘probe’
• Offers Rs 10 lakh as reward for info
• Wants Canadian govt. to pressure India

Canada-based NRI Sanjay Goel (35) is determined to ‘net’ his mother’s killers. After his repeated visits to Mumbai yielded no results in finding out the murderers, the NRI has now decided to launch a virtual hunt and has started a website offering a reward of Rs 10 lakh to anyone who gives him information about the crime. The website – www.ashagoel.ca – has email ids that enable anyone with information to post information online.Sixty-two-year-old Goel was found brutally murdered at her brother Sureshchandra Agarwal’s flat at Malabar Hill in August 2003. She had come to Mumbai to see her brother as he was not keeping well. Goel was struck on the head, and her jaw was broken. She was stabbed repeatedly and also blinded. While five people were sleeping in the house at the time of the incident, none of them heard anything. The only arrest made was that of Pradeep Parab, a manager at Agarwal’s guest house at Bhuleshwar. Parab later named Agarwal himself as the chief conspirator. However, just days after Parab’s confession, Agarwal died of old age. Later, even Parab was released from jail. The case was initially with Malabar Hill police, and after no breakthrough happened, it was taken over by the state CID. Sanjay and other members of the family had to come to Mumbai often to follow up on the case. But with no leads yet, they decided to put up a website. The site carries all media stories about the murder and also makes an appeal for signatures on a petition ‘urging the government of Canada to compel the Indian government to solve this case’. Dr Asha Goel was an obstetrician and gynaecologist. She was a Canadian citizen.

Mumbai murder mystery cracked

By Shiva Kumar N D DH News Service Bangalore:

A suspected killer spilled the beans when he was subjected to narcoanalysis, brain finger-printing and polygraph tests in Bangalore.

The case of sensational murder of gynaecologist Dr Asha Goel, an NRI from Canada , in Mumbai has been solved after 20 months following relentless pressure on the police by the broken-hearted family of the victim.

Though the crime took place in Mumbai, the critical narco-analysis test was done in Bangalore a few days ago on one of the assailants, who has revealed vital clues about the crime to the investigators.

Dr Asha Goel was found murdered in the house of her brother Suresh Agarwal on the 14th floor of Sudhar building in Malabar Hill, Mumbai, on August 23, 2003. A diamond ring, a necklace, Rs 11,000 and a mobile phone were missing.

On September 3, Pradeep Prabhakar Parab alias Jadia, manager of Agarwal’s guest house in Bhuleshwar, was arrested in connection with the murder. Initially, he confessed to his involvement in the crime and also named Suresh Agarwal as the chief conspirator. But he did a volte-face in the court. Parab was released on bail in April 2004. But in the meantime, Agarwal died a natural death.

Tests in City

The Mumbai crime branch sleuths brought Parab and three others – Shinde, Jayaprakash and Santhosh Kumar – to Bangalore last week to subject them to the scientific tests.

Polygraph, brain finger-printing and narco-analysis tests were conducted on Pradeep and polygraph test was conducted on the other three.

Pradeep reportedly confessed during the narco-analysis test that Suresh Agarwal had given Rs 50,000 to four persons – Goenka, Shinde, Pradeep, and another unidentified man – to kill his sister.

The slain doctor wanted all her three brothers to share the ancestral property equally. But Suresh Agarwal and his brother Subhash Agarwal, a resident of Canada , did not want to share the property with their other brother Shekhar, residing in Los Angeles .

When Asha Goel objected to this, Suresh reportedly hatched a conspiracy to eliminate her with the support of his brother’s manager in India , Goenka.

On that night, the assailants had come to Suresh’s house in a car.

The houses of Suresh and Subhash were adjacent to each other and had a common door. The assailants gained entry into the Suresh’s house through the Subhash’s house. They crushed Asha’s head and stabbed her 20 times.

Asha’s son Sanjay Goel, a Canadian national, has left no stone unturned trying to find his mother’s killers. After the tragedy, he has visited India 10 times, while his father came here three times, over the last two years.

He travels to India seeking justice

By: Alpana Lath 

March 14, 2004

Sanjay Goel lives in Vancouver, Canada. His mother, Asha, was murdered in Mumbai. About 12,287 kms and a long flight separate the two cities. But since August 2003, when the incident occurred, Sanjay has come to Mumbai seven times.

He is determined to ensure that justice is served. In Canada, Sanjay sells cruises: sunshine getaways and pleasure islands. He was planning to send his parents on one such trip on the occasion of their fortieth wedding anniversary, when Asha was murdered.

She was in Mumbai visiting her brother. One Pradeep Parab was arrested in connection with the murder and the investigation was recently handed over to the CID.

“Being here seven times has helped the case. I’m fortunate to have the time and the means to make these trips.”

Sanjay’s Mumbai visits are about 10 days long. “It’s difficult for my team then,” he says. “How much longer can I expect them to understand? Even when I’m there, I’m not there. But how can it be otherwise?”

For Sanjay and his family, a secure upper middle class life has been torn apart and they’re still struggling to come to terms with its disruption.

“This doesn’t happen to people like us. My parents are ordinary middle class people – they’re not industrialists. They went to Canada 40 years ago with eight Canadian dollars. They were just doctors who worked very hard – my father’s a great surgeon and my mother, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, delivered 10,000 babies in Canada. How did we get tied up in this?”

To find the answer, Sanjay plays two roles. In one, he is a travel and tourism professional in Vancouver. In the other, he establishes contact with a long list of people in India who, he hopes, might help the case. He spends a few hours every morning (Canada time, when it’s late night in India) and a few hours every evening keeping in touch with people in India connected to the investigation.

The hours in between are for sleep and business. Sanjay has joined the club of businessmen that live their lives in multiple time zones, only for very different reasons.

Sanjay is grasping at as many straws as he can find. “We’re drawing upon every friend or family member to meet government officials,” says Sanjay,

“We’ve tried everything: we’ve appealed to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s office, and when the prime minister of Canada, Jean Chrétien, was here late last year, our case was on the top of his discussions with Mr Vajpayee.”

However, Sanjay finds that he can never do enough. “I’m the one son – her firstborn,” he says. “She was my friend, counsellor and guide, I’ll never have that. These were the years for her to enjoy her accomplishments. And she’s gone.”

He’s still knocking on doors that he thinks may lead him to the truth. The long distance fight for justice hasn’t been easy but Sanjay says he will not give up.

“If I’ve ever felt like giving up, my mom’s determination for us comes to me. I have no doubt that she’d want me to resolve this: not to pursue it on the basis of revenge, but truth and justice. It’s difficult for me to move on without finding out what happened.

“My sister says, ‘We don’t want to lose you, too, to this’. People say you have to allow the healing process. But it hasn’t happened for any of us. We are consumed by the how and why.”

Suspect dies leaving cops baffled

Express News Service

Mumbai, November 5: THEY had their suspect. And a confession naming the man who was apparently behind it all. Yet, the Malabar Hill police failed to crack the murder case-simply because they failed to interrogate or detain the alleged main conspirator before he died of natural causes.

He died on Tuesday, leaving the police looking extremely foolish.

Asha Goel (61), a Canadian resident, was found murdered with multiple stab wounds, in a Malabar Hill flat on August 23. Goel was in Mumbai to visit her ailing brother, Sureshchandra Agarwal (80).

During the investigation, police discovered that Goel had received calls from a particular phone number on the day she was murdered.

They traced the numbers to Little Lily Guest House, near Musafirkhana at Crawford Market, which is owned by Agarwal.

The register maintained by the watchmen also showed that Agarwal and Pradeep Parab, the guest house manager and alleged killer, were the last visitors Goel received.

They had visited her in her flat in Sudhakar Cooperative Society on August 22.

This prompted the Malabar Hill police to arrest Parab alias Jadia. Parab confessed that he had killed Goel on Agarwal’s instructions. Despite the confession, police did not arrest Agarwal. They summoned him to the police station for interrogation, but Agarwal never turned up.

Agarwal died on Tuesday, of natural causes. Senior Inspector M U Patil says they did not force Agarwal to come to the police station because of his deteriorating health.

Parab, meanwhile, has retracted his statement. He has undergone a lie detector test and the police are awaiting the results.

Police believe that Goel was murdered over a property dispute with her brothers including Agarwal.

On Wednesday, Goel’s son, Sanjay, held a press conference to announce a Rs 10 lakh reward for information on the case.

Slain doctor’s son wants Canada’s help

Source: The Toronto Star | Published: Wednesday, Aug 27, 2003 4:57 PM EST by Jordan Heath-Rawlings

Bombay police pay little heed, he says to brutal beating of obstetrician

The son of a Canadian obstetrician who was beaten to death in India last weekend is calling on the Canadian government to take a greater role in the search for her killers.

“There’s so many questions that we are very angry and very frustrated. The deeper we go trying to learn what happened, the less we get,” Sanjay Goel said.

Asha Goel, who was chief obstetrician at Headwaters Health Care Centre in Orangeville, Ont., was found on Saturday morning, lying in a pool of her own blood, on the 14th floor of a residential building in Bombay.

Mr. Goel said that the Bombay police, already taxed after bombings Monday that left 46 dead, haven’t been able to put many resources behind the case

“In Canada, the police would have sealed off the entire floor [where she was found]. That’s not what happened here,” he said. “Evidence has been damaged, trampled or has disappeared due to poor handling or process. That’s been very difficult to deal with.”

The building where Dr. Goel was staying as she visited a sick relative is accessible only with help from someone inside the building, Mr. Goel said. He added that the police have not had the time to pursue that or many other possible leads or suspects.

“The reality of trying to find a detective who is not only capable but committed to solving the crime has been very frustrating.”

Mr. Goel, his father and his two sisters, who flew to Bombay when they received the news, have tried to get the Canadian government involved in the case, with little success.

“We need the Canadian government to take a greater role in this matter,” Mr. Goel said. “I appreciate there’s protocol and things of that nature, but it was only after a very spirited visit to the consul here in Bombay that we were able to get them to write a letter to the police to say this requires a more dedicated approach.”

In the letter, senior Canadian trade commissioner Ping Kitnikone told R.S. Sharma, commissioner of the Bombay police, that the issue “is of grave concern to the Canadian government and we would seek your office’s help in ensuring that the matter is accorded the highest importance.”

Patrick Riel, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa, said that the Canadian consulate was “in contact” with the appropriate officials. He would not elaborate on who those officials were.

He did say that if the circumstances surrounding the killing become clearer, Foreign Affairs may do more to push the case along.

“This just happened,” he said. “And we are responding appropriately.”

Although Mr. Goel said the letter was a good step, he believes more needs to be done before the government has an impact on the police.

“It’s going to need more than a polite letter from the consulate to have this case elevated to the highest level,” he said. “And it needs to be.

“There are 21 different points of injury on my mother. As a son you are outraged to see so little accomplished,” he said.

“I have no idea who did this or why this was done. I only know this was a horrible way my mother was killed.

“If you want to kill someone, you take a gun, put it to their head and pull the trigger. You don’t blind them, break their teeth and hit them in the head with a piece of granite,” he said. “It’s the most barbaric way to die. It’s the way a cave man would kill another cave man.”

The death of Dr. Goel, who by her son’s estimate brought about 10,000 infant Canadians into the world in her 30 years of obstetrical work, has left a huge hole in the Headwaters Centre where she worked. Her husband, S.K. Goel, is a surgeon at the same hospital.

“Her obstetrical team, who had worked very closely with Dr. Goel, are in a state of serious shock and dismay,” Kathryn Hunt of Headwaters said yesterday.

“We have had grief counsellors on site. We have put a book of condolences in our chapel for our staff and patients, and we are receiving calls from her patients, expressing their sympathy and condolences.

“She was a remarkable woman.”

Ms. Hunt said that a memorial to Dr. Goel was being planned, but that nothing would be finalized until her husband returned from Bombay and approved the ideas.

Doctor killed in robbery: Police

Source: The Toronto Star | Published: Wednesday, August 27, 2003 by Philip Mascoll

CLICK HERE for the PDF version

Police in Mumbai, India, have settled on robbery as the motive behind the slaying of the chief of obstetrics at an Orangeville hospital who was visiting an ailing brother. Dr. Asha Goel, 62, was found early Saturday in a pool of blood on the floor of a bedroom at her brother’s house in the upper-class suburb of Malabar Hill. A preliminary autopsy report said she had been beaten to death.

Yesterday, the city’s top detective said theft was the motive.

“It was a murder while committing a robbery,” S.P. Singh, the city’s joint commissioner of police, said in an interview.

Singh said there had been some initial confusion in the investigation because police in the city are also dealing with the two bomb blasts on Monday that claimed more than 50 lives.

Goel had come from Canada to Mumbai a few days before her death to visit her brother, Suresh Chandra Agarwal, who had recently started kidney dialysis, and his wife, who recently suffered a stroke.

Colleagues at Headwaters Health Care Centre in Orangeville, where Goel’s husband, Dr. S.K. Goel, is a general surgeon, said she joined the staff in 1987.

Before going to Orangeville, she spent 17 years at Pasqua Hospital in Regina.

Dr. Asha Goel worked with her husband at Headwaters Health Care Centre in Orangeville.

NRI doctor clubbed to death in city

Published: Sunday, Aug 24, 2003, 01:26 IST By TNN | Place: Mumbai | Agency: India Times

CLICK HERE to read the original article.

CLICK HERE for the PDF version.  

MUMBAI: A 62-year-old Indian doctor from Toronto was clubbed to death in a Malabar Hill high-rise early on Saturday. Asha Goel had come to Mumbai a few days ago to visit her brother Suresh Chandra Agarwal (64), who had undergone kidney dialysis recently, and his wife,who had suffered a stroke.  

The police said a servant had found Goel in a pool of blood in her bedroom of the Sudhakar Co-operative Housing Society on Narayan Dhabolkar Marg. After being alerted by the servant, Mr. Agarwal (he and his wife are almost bed-ridden) called up a friend, who then called in the police.  

A senior police officer said the elderly couple was sleeping in an adjacent room when the murder took place.

Although preliminary investigations showed robbery could be the motive for the crime, a gold ring of the victim and Rs 1.20 lakhs were found missing.  The police are also probing whether the crime could be the fallout of a property dispute.

The police are questioning Goel’s relatives in Mumbai to find out if any property dispute was involved. They are also trying to ascertain the ownership of the flat, which has five spacious rooms and is worth more than Rs 1 crore. The police suspect that it was an inside job, but no arrest has been made so far.

“Our initial suspicion was one of the servants,” the officer said, adding that the Agarwals had four servants who stayed in the flat. “But we are not ruling out the possibility of a servant letting in the killer late on Friday night.” he said.

The police found the main door of the flat intact. “There was no sign of any break-in,” the officer said. Besides, the door of the room in which Goel was sleeping was not locked from the inside.    

NRI found murdered in Mumbai

Source: Rediff | Published: Sunday, August 24, 2003 16:55 IST

CLICK HERE to read the original article

CLICK HERE for the PDF version

A non-resident Indian was found murdered on the 14th floor of Sudhakar Building in Malabar Hill, Mumbai, on Saturday.

Asha Goel, 61, had arrived from Toronto 10 days ago, police said, adding she was found lying on the ground with serious head injuries.

A diamond ring, a mobile phone and cash totalling Rs 121,000 was found missing.

Robbery is suspected to be the motive behind the murder.

Goel had come to the metropolis to visit her brother’s family, the police said.

No one has been arrested so far. The police are questioning the building watchmen and domestic help to gather clues.

The family of the deceased in Toronto has been informed of the incident, the police added.