Says he never observed any suspicious movement
VASCO, JAN 20
The arrest of four alleged terror operatives of the outlawed People’s United Liberation Front (PULF) of Manipur has shaken Cansaulim village, especially since neighbours never suspected unusual activity in the flat rented out by the accused.
According to sources, Samir Khan, the elder son of alleged kingpin, Samsat Khan alias Sauda, along with his mother and three kids had approached flat owner, Fernandes, seeking to rent out his flat at Sacramenta building in the heart of Cansaulim village.
“Samir along with his mother and three small children approached me asking for a flat to stay, as he is working in a hotel in Cansaulim. Since he had accompanied his family, we rented our flat”, said Fernandes.
The flat owner said they had rented their flat only to the family members and he never observed any suspicious movement, as the flat would often remain closed.
“With this incident, it will be difficult to trust anyone in future”, Fernandes said.
Fernandes further informed that initially, only five people used to stay in the flat.
“However, the water usage began to increase comparatively and the overhead tank would go dry. I then visited the flat and found that five more people were staying in the flat, including three girls, who claimed that they had come to Goa on a holiday”, stated Fernandes.
“We never witnessed any suspicious movement or any activity of the people who were staying in the flat as most of them were girls, including three small children”, said Fernandes.
Two neighbours, who are railway guards with Konkan Railways, also claimed that they never noticed any suspicious activity of the inmates in the flat.
“As we did not understand their language and the inmates used to often remain indoors, we never noticed any suspicious activity”, said railway guard Shivraj.
Former Cansaulim sarpanch Jose Manuel Vaz, who recently tendered his resignation, said it was often announced in the church that villagers should complete the tenant verification of the people, to whom they are letting out their premises.
“We have informed the people in the panchayat that with increasing number of crimes in the State, they should be more vigilant and inform police about any new people taking shelter in the village”, said Vaz.
“We can take the horse to the well, but we cannot force it to drink water. Similarly, we can only create awareness among the villagers, who need to be cautious”, added Vaz.
