Panaji: Nearly three months after British teenager Scarlette Keeling was found dead on Goa's Anjuna Beach, the state government on Wednesday formally handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Inspector-General of Police Kishan Kumar said the Goa government issued a notification to this effect on Wednesday, though it had decided to transfer the case much earlier. "This means that the CBI can now take charge of the case with full powers as vested in the state police," Kishan Kumar told reporters.

Scarlette's mother Fiona MacKeown had in early April accused the state police of covering up her daughter's murder case and demanded a CBI inquiry. Scarlette's semi-naked body was found on the Anjuna Beach, a popular tourist spot, on Feb 18 with bruise marks. It was later confirmed that she was raped and an autopsy indicated death due to drowning.

A second autopsy was also performed at MacKeown's insistence. Following this autopsy report, murder investigations were initiated and two people - bartender Samson D'Souza and an alleged drug peddler Placido Carvalho - were arrested.

A police inspector, Nerlon Albuquerque, was also sacked for shoddy investigation into the alleged murder. Albuquerque was an investigating officer with the Anjuna police station when Scarlette's body was found at the beach. He had ruled out foul play initially, terming it as death due to drowning. Last week, Fiona claimed in London that she had learnt of the involvement of "a powerful person" in her daughter' death.

Source : IANS