‘I am scared, I will speak tomorrow;

Now Nirmala Mene claims she never saw a “white man” and her husband never murdered anybody. Soni Mene, Ramesh Mene’s mother, also claims that the police picked up her sons and charged them with murder, no such incident had ever taken place.

That’s not the only twist.

In a recorded telephone message that Stephen Bennett left for his mother back home just hours before his death, he told his parents: “I am being intimidated here. I have done absolutely nothing wrong but I am being intimidated..and I am scared…Hopefully, I will be able to speak to you tomorrow.. If not, I love you loads…Give my love to the kids…C’est la vie…Bye”

The tone and tenor of this last message was consistent with the series of telephone conversations he had with his parents throughout his time in Goa and later in Roha.

For, in another call on December 7 — three days before his alleged murder — Bennett told his parents about two Indian men “who were far too friendly” who told him they were taking him to Mumbai to see a fireworks display.

Even in that conversation, it was clear that Bennett was afraid — he claimed that the two Indian men were conspiring against him but he could not understand since they were talking in their native language.

By then, a shaken Bennett family in UK began trying to contact the British embassy but it was too late. Bennett was found killed on December 10, eight days after he arrived in India.

In that last message, Bennett also told his parents to contact his brother Paul Bennett where he clearly enunciates the name of the hotel, “OK… Room 101 Palacio (P-A-L-A-C-I-O accent on the A) de Goa is where I’m staying. Ah..mum…could you please ring up Paul (his brother). Get him to somehow see if he can get hold of f…ing Chopsey (John Cronin, a friend he met in Goa) because I am being intimidated here. I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong but I’m being intimidated … and I’m scared. So please do that. Can you do that?”

Cronin was a friend of Bennett who had travelled with him to India but somehow they lost touch. Bennett was desperate to contact him and believed that he could have saved his life.

Following the message, the family frantically tried to get authorities to act but to no avail. His brother, Paul Bennett, speaking to The Sunday Express from London, said: “It’s some coincidence for him to be calling to say his life is in danger one minute and then found dead in the jungle a few days later. The cops are not interested in the truth, they just want to close the case.”

When asked about Stephen’s involvement with drugs as an addict and dealer, Paul said, “It’s outrageous to say that my brother was an addict or suffered from AIDS. He was an extremely healthy man and never did drugs.”

Paul also disputed that Bennett ever took the Mandovi Express to Mumbai. “He was never on the train. There are glaring inconsistencies in the police story. They keep changing his date of journey, then if the villagers had killed him, why were his hands tied before hanging?”

The police are, however, adamant that “it is an open and shut case”.

“We have resolved everything so far except for those two days that had gone unaccounted between Stephen’s exit from train and reaching Roha. What we have learnt is that Stephen was not only an addict but also a small time drug-dealer. We have formed four different teams to track down Stephen’s network. But for us it’s a clear-cut murder case perpetrated by the villager due to misunderstanding,” said Satyapal Singh, IGP (Thane range).

Singh further claimed that “Stephen had been smoking foul-smelling stuff through the journey and the passengers were upset about this. It was their extreme objection that led to Stephen leaving the train at Roha. We have recorded the statements of two of his co-passengers who live in Kankavali.”