Team Herald
PANJIM: Raids and arrests by police in the North Goa coastal belt that has led to curbing narcotics and flesh trade has been attributed to the desire of some young MLAs to clean up the coast of undesirable activity.
Sources said the raids have been undertaken following pressure on the police by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who holds the Home portfolio, and he was acting as per the wishes of some MLAs of the coastal constituencies.
Sources said that local MLAs from the coastal constituencies have sought zero-tolerance to drugs and prostitution and asked the CM to act tough on these activities.
“I directly told the Chief Minister that we need zero-tolerance on drugs and prostitution. We want drugs and prostitution-free State,” Calangute MLA Michael Lobo told Herald.
WRD Minister and Siolim MLA Vinod Paliencar said, “It is possible to have a drug and prostitution free Goa if we take interest to give our tourists a clean destination. We don’t want international tourists to come here for drugs and domestic tourists for prostitution.”
Lobo said the cleanup depends on the Chief Minister and Home Minister, who asked for a crime report following which the cops have begun acting. Paliencar too says the police activity is a result of his having raised the issue with the Chief Minister.
Soon after Parrikar took charge as Chief Minister, Goa Police started the drive against drugs and prostitution. In the last 15 days police have booked a sizable number of cases of drugs and prostitution, with the State’s top cop getting a daily report from all police stations and other agencies.
Director General of Police (DGP) has instructed the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) and Crime Branch to go against these two crimes.
Paliencar claims that almost 90 percent of the drug parties and prostitution in Anjuna, Vagator and Chapora have been stopped. “It is not easy to eradicate the trade which was happening for the last 30 years but Chief Minister Parrikar has made it possible,” he said.
