2 Reportedly Confess to Murderin

Arrests Made in the Killing of Father Eusebio Ferr�o

GOA, India, MARCH 23, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Two suspects were arrested in the murder of Father Eusebio Ferr�o and later confessed to the crime, says the Catholic bishops' conference.

A note published Wednesday on the Web page of the bishops' conference states that the two were arrested in Nagpur.

A priest at St. Francis Xavier Church in Macazana, Father Ferr�o, 61, was found dead in his bedroom Saturday morning.

Following leads, the Goa police dispatched a team to Nagpur to arrest Amit Shukla and Manish Dubey. Both are from Allahabad in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

The two men said that Father Ferr�o had been cordial with Shukla and even promised to help him find a better job. Shukla had visited the priest several times for this purpose.

Last Friday night, the two men went to the priest's residence. He apparently offered them dinner. As it was late and the two men had no transport to return, Father Ferr�o allowed them to sleep in an adjoining room.

Later in the night, Father Ferr�o went to their room to find out if they were all right, officials said. The men jumped on him and strangled him, authorities said. Police said that the two men were under the influence of alcohol.

The men then locked the door of Father Ferr�o's room and hitched a ride to Margao and from there, boarded a train to Kalyan, authorities said.

The postmortem report stated that the priest died of violent asphyxia and 27 stab wounds. About 8,000 people attended Father Ferr�o's funeral Tuesday, in his native town of Chinchinim, in South Goa.

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