PANJIM: A possible business rivalry has emerged as the key line of investigation into the shooting at Majestic in Porvorim, with police suspecting that the two men who opened fire at Majestic Pride Group director Shrinivas Nayak may have been hired for the attack.
The development came as Porvorim police intensified a manhunt for the two unidentified assailants, suspected to be from outside Goa, who fired three to four rounds at Nayak as he was leaving the hotel on Friday night. Nayak escaped unhurt, while his bodyguard fired three rounds in retaliation. The attackers then fled towards the highway.
Police have registered an attempt to murder case under Sections 109(1) and 125 read with 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. 2023, and Section 3 read with 27 of the Arms Act. According sources, investigators are examining if a dispute over control of the business, particularly the management of a Panjim hotel, is a possible trigger for the attack.
The role of a certain businessman, who is said to have connections with a local politician, has come under the police scanner. Investigators are also examining the background of the parties involved.
Police, however, have not officially named anyone as a suspect, and the motive has yet to be conclusively established.
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CCTV footage has emerged as a crucial part of the inves-tigation. Police said the two assailants were seen waiting near the hotel gate before opening fire as Nayak was about to leave. The sequence has led investigators to suspect that the attack was targeted and planned rather than a spontaneous assault.
Preliminary investigation also indicates that the assail-ants may have come from outside Goa and could have been hired to carry out the assault. Police are examining whether the shooting was intended primarily to intimidate Nayak rather than kill him.
Multiple police teams, including the Crime Branch, have been deployed to identify and trace the suspects. DGP Alok Kumar said, “We have definite leads and are pursuing them both within and outside Goa.”
“We will be successful in cracking the case very soon,” Kumar said, while declining to disclose details that could compromise the investigation. He said senior officers, including the DIG and IGP, were monitoring the probe.
The DGP also ruled out an extortion angle and said security measures had been stepped up, particularly with the Assembly session beginning on Monday.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said he had directed the DGP and senior police officers to conduct a detailed investigation and arrest the assailants at the earliest.
“This is the first time in my eight-year tenure that such an incident has occurred. Such an attack on a businessman is definitely not appropriate, particularly in a State like Goa,” Sawant said, adding that those responsible would be behind bars soon.
The shooting, however, quickly became a political flash-point, with Opposition parties accusing the government of failing to maintain law and order. Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao pointed to the location of the attack, saying it occurred barely 100 metres from the Assembly complex, High Court building and North Goa SP office.
“Where is the intelligence? There is a failure of the Goa Police,” Alemao said, arguing that the incident reflected a wider deterioration in the State’s law-and-order situation.
South Goa MP Capt Viriato Fernandes also questioned how an open firing could take place in such a sensitive area and demanded that Sawant relinquish the Home portfolio.
“When bullets are being fired openly, the government must take responsibility,” Fernandes said. Goa Forward Party president and MLA Vijai Sardesai said the incident sent a “very wrong message”, when public safety was a major concern. He questioned the effectiveness of the State’s CCTV network and called for the investigative wing of the police to be strengthened.
“If businessmen are moving around with bodyguards, then what will be the fate of politicians who are in the Opposition?” Sardesai asked, adding that he would raise the issue during the Assembly session.
Aldona MLA Carlos Alvares Ferreira described the shooting as an attempt on Nayak’s life and said its proximity to the Porvorim police station showed that criminals had little fear of the law. The Aam Aadmi Party also attacked the government, with Goa president Valmiki Naik linking the incident to what he described as a growing “culture of guns and casino-related crimes”. He said the fact that the shooting occurred short-ly before the Assembly session, when security should have been heightened, made the incident particularly alarming.
AITC national spokesman Trajano D’Mello said the shooting had exposed what he called the collapse of the law-and-order machinery and warned that guests and members of the public could easily have been caught in the line of fire.
Mahila Congress president Dr Pratiksha Khalap said the incident had added a “frightening dimension” to what she described as a broader deterioration in public safety, arguing that government action must focus on preventing crime rather than merely responding after serious offences occur.
The Opposition’s criticism extended to the handling of the investigation itself. GPCC media and communication department chairman Amarnath Panjikar questioned how CCTV footage and other investigation-related material reached the media while the DGP maintained that details could not be disclosed because they might compromise the probe.
“Then who is leaking CCTV footage and investigation-related information to the media?” Panjikar asked, demanding that the government establish whether there had been a breach of investigative procedure.
For now, however, the police investigation remains focused on identifying the two shooters, tracing the chain behind the attack and establishing whether the suspected business dispute was indeed the motive.
