GUILHERME ALMEIDA
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MARGAO: Terming the action of the flying squad as highly condemnable, the Parish Pastoral Council and the Fabrica of St Xavier’s Church, Velim on Wednesday demanded an unconditional written apology by the authorities to uphold the respect that a Priest deserves and to restore his integrity tarnished by the search and inquiry conducted on Parish Priest Fr Romano Gonsalves on Monday evening.
A delegation of the Fabrica and the Parish Pastoral Council today called on the District Electoral Officer, south and handed over a memorandum demanding action.
The memorandum further demanded the identity of the caller, saying the caller has tried to create disharmony amongst the community and warned that the parishioners will take further action in the matter if their demands are not met within 48 hours.
“As law abiding citizens, we do not question or challenge the authorities about their powers to conduct a sudden search. As you are aware, this is a Church premise, a religious institution. Your flying squad did not apply their mind and exercise restraint during the action. The Parish Priest represents the parishioners in the village and is duly appointed in the parish by the Archbishop of Goa and
They further pointed out that great resentment has been caused amongst the Catholic community by the overzealous nature of the flying squad which may precipitate into a law and order problem in the coming days.
In the memorandum, the Parishioners have raised a host of queries and have sought answers within 48 hours.
Meanwhile, sources said a meeting of the Priests of Chinchinim deanery has been called on Thursday to discuss the issue threadbare and chalk out future plan of action.
Questions before the Collector raised by the Parishioners of Velim
* What was the nature of the complaint the flying squad were inquiring into?
* As per our telephonic discussion with the in-charge, flying squad Aniel Rodrigues, it is understood that the flying squad were acting on behest of the Income Tax officials. Is this true? (The Income Tax officials, however, have denied calling in the flying squad)
a) If true kindly give us the transcripts of the conversation received from the Income Tax officials along with all data like telephone numbers etc.
b) If false, then i) was the complaint anonymous in nature? If not anonymous, we demand the identity of the caller be known to the parishioners of Velim and suitable action be initiated against the complainant as it involved tarnishing the reputation of our Parish Priest.
b) If the call was anonymous in nature, were you aware that you were raiding a religious institution? We also would like to have an investigation setup to identify the caller. Further, how many anonymous calls have you attended and raided?
* The flying squad has been formed primarily to deal with election-related malpractices. Was it an election-related search that was conducted?
