Team Herald
PANJIM: After the violent protest by mining dependents exactly two weeks ago, the ‘mining dependents’ have now resorted to “foolish” pranks.
The State police geared up to tackle yet another protest by the same agitators, this time planned outside the Panjim police station, to demand withdrawal of the criminal cases against them. The fresh call given by the mining dependents, however, turned out to be hoax as they planned to play a prank with the State administration.
On Monday, March 19, people affected by the closure of mining operations had taken to the streets demanding resumption of mining activities. The rally turned violent with the police resorting to a lathi charge, with a section of the taxi operators of North Goa illegally entering the scene and sparking off more trouble and tension
The agitators were booked while some were arrested and soon bailed out, under different sections of the Indian Penal Code and National Highway Act 1956. Panjim police then invoked Goa Children’s Act after several students were subjected to harassment due to the protest.
To oppose the FIRs against them, the mining dependents on Sunday announced another protest outside the police station to be held on Monday. This call turned out to a prank as not a single person turned up even as armed personnel were ready to tackle the situation.
“It was an April Fool day’s prank. The government has been fooling us for the last six years so we all decided to fool the government for one day,” All Goa Truck Owners Association president Nilkant Gawas told Herald.
On the other hand, the police department had deployed its personnel at the site while many were kept on standby in case of an emergency.
Herald tried to speaking to police officers but none were ready to comment. A senior officer on condition of anonymity said, “We had made all the arrangements to ensure it is not like the previous incident. On being informed that the mining dependents will not turn up, we withdrew the force from the site.”
