The parents said that one of the boys in the group informed his parents that the accused Mathew had tried to forcibly feed the drugs to him which he resisted. He said he kept the substance in his mouth and then spat it out. This boy narrated that Mathew did the same to their two colleagues Paraj Raikar and Rodston Monteiro, who died.
Ever since the death of the two youngsters in Curtorim in the aftermath of the drug party, there is no trace of Mathew and police have primarily shifted focus in nabbing ‘Lotus’ alias Kamruddin and Mathew.
‘Lotus’ and his ‘right hand’ Mathew Colaco have been running a major drug cartel in Salcete for years. ‘Lotus’ and Mathew have allegedly employed hundreds of youngsters in the age group of 18 to 21 in this trade. Salcete having a long coastline and lots of colleges, the cartel has targeted students and tourists in Salcete.
‘Lotus’ who is the prime accused is from Navelim and had begun his drug trade from Canacona where he ran a shack in Palolem. He had been arrested by Canacona police in the past for shooting at a man. After that incident ‘Lotus’ has been away from the public eye for a long time.
The second prime accused Colaco who has been accused of supplying drugs to youngsters has been running his drug trade from Loutolim and has over time established a huge cartel of peddlers.
The workers at the coastal shacks are a part of this drug chain. These workers allegedly supply drugs to Russians and English tourists.
Sources in Maina inform that some of the youngsters in the group had fought on the previous day and also at the night party. Fear is also being expressed by one of the parents of the deceased that the relatives and parents are trying to hush up the case as they are quite capable and have the money to do so.
It is also known from sources that even traditional parties at Curtorim like Sao Joao have turned into nuisance to the neighbourhood. A resident of Curtorim said that in 2014 the Sao Joao party at the Maina ‘Munsh’ had turned ugly with one of the youngsters getting into a big fight and being beaten very badly. A couple of more such cases which were also reported from Curtorim have been reported but have been put on the back burner now.
Rodston Monteiro was the only son and now having lost him in the prime of youth, the parents are crushed and left with no one for succor.
Meanwhile the Curtorim legislator Aleixo Reginaldo Lourence has called a meeting of the villagers next week to jointly root out the problem of drugs from village. While in a meeting with the Superintendent of Police Reginaldo was told that the second accused Mathew Colaco is being tracked by the police.
