CANACONA: Canacona residents, tourist and businessmen are shocked at the recent spate of incidents of a gang assaulting people, vandalizing establishments and committing theft across the town and beaches. The situation has reached a stage where establishments, especially around Palolem, are being shut premises out of fear.
Over the last three weeks, the residents have complained that a gang of 30-odd people have been causing havoc in their lives.
Upset with the turn of events and the consequences that the taluka may face, a major public meeting will be held at the Palolem Youth Club on Saturday. The meeting will be attended by citizens and government representatives, including the mamlatdar and Superintendent of Police.
Canacona PI Filomena Costa has said that the police are monitoring the situation and cases have already been booked against two persons: Konoya Pagi and Vikant Bhagat. He claimed this was the handiwork of notorious history-sheeters.
In one such case that was booked, Pagi had allegedly gone to a house and attacked a man with a sword, and in another case, Bhagat had attacked the staff of a restaurant after demanding food to be served when the place was shut.
Locals pointed out that the gang not only vandalises establishments and robs people, but they also ransack places after they were shut and transport the stolen goods and money outside the border immediately so that there is no trace of their actions and making it difficult for police to trace them.
Canacona locals, who have formed a group ‘Jagruk Committee’, have held meetings with the police and DySP, where they wanted to convey that they were supporting the police and wanted the latter to take the strongest action against the gang. They have also declared that they are not scared of the gang and would stand up to this menace.
“We met the PI and DySP regarding the problems that Palolem and the rest of Canacona faced in the recent tourist season, including a bunch of robberies, drug dealing, extortion, and assault on tourists. This is giving a bad name to Palolem. Already there are posts online of tourists warning other people that Palolem is unsafe,” said Arvind Desai, a senior citizen.
Desai appealed to all Canacona locals to attend Saturday’s meeting so that they can tell the authorities the problems they are facing.
