Two unidentified gunmen opened fire on Ca sino Majestic proprietor and director Shrinivas Nayak out side the Porvorim casino on Friday night, in a brazen at tack barely metres from the North Goa Superintendent of Police’s office and the Porvorim police station. Nayak escaped what he described as a potentially fatal attack only after his private security guard in tervened and fired back at the assailants, forcing them to flee. Police said the attackers fired four rounds at Nayak as he was getting into his car.
The security guard re sponded with two rounds from his weapon. No one was injured. Recounting the terrifying moments, Nayak said the attackers pulled out their weapons as he was enter ing his car. “I was getting into my car when the two shoot ers fired at me. But as they drew the weapon, it fired and missed their aim. If not for the accidental first firing, I had no chance and they would have killed me. I ran to safety,” he said. Nayak said the attackers appeared to have come specifically for him and were captured on the casi no’s CCTV cameras. “They appeared to be hit men. But let the police find out,” he said.
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The attack has raised serious questions over security in an area that houses the Assembly complex and some of the State’s top police estab lishments. The assailants allegedly managed to approach their target, open fire and escape despite the casino being located in close proximity to the offices of the North Goa SP and Porvorim Police. CCTV footage accessed by O Heraldo has provided investigators with a trail of the suspects. One suspect, dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, is seen mov ing through the casino premises and allegedly passing security personnel without attracting attention.
In another clip, a second suspect wearing a cap, white shirt and greyish trousers is seen moving through the premis es before leaving the area. Investigators are now scrutinising the footage to establish how the two men entered the premises, whether they had conducted reconnaissance before the attack and the route they used to escape. Senior police officials, including DIGs and North Goa SP Vishwesh Kar pe, rushed to the scene after the shooting. Teams from Porvorim Police, the Crime Branch and Cyber Crime Cell have joined the investigation, while several teams have been deployed to track down the attackers. Police are collecting CCTV footage from the casino and surrounding ar eas and examining evidence from the scene.
A massive manhunt has been launched, but the identity of the two suspects and the motive behind the attack remain unclear. The shooting has also triggered a political attack on the BJP-led Gov ernment, with the Opposition questioning how armed assailants could allegedly carry out such a brazen attack virtually on the doorstep of the police establishment. Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar said the incident reflected a serious deterioration in the State’s law-and-order sit uation. “If criminals have the audacity to allegedly open fire just metres away from a police station, then who is actually in control in Goa — the police or the criminals?” he questioned. Chodankar demanded the immediate arrest of the attackers and a probe into the motive behind the shooting, saying law and order was the fundamental responsibility of the Government. GPCC Working President Sunil Kawthankar also targeted the Govern ment, saying the alleged firing barely 100 metres from the SP North Goa office reflected a “total collapse of law and order”.
