PANJIM: Following the ketamine seizure from an industry owned by a BJP office bearer, Congress has challenged Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to come on record to declare that BJP functionaries are not involved in the drug trade. 

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Congress president Girish Chodankar questioned the Chief Minister’s silence on the ketamine seizure at Pissurlem industrial estate. 

“Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar should stop being silent over the seizure of ketamine, known as a rape drug from the factory owned by his party office bearer,” Chodankar said, and added, “I dare the Chief Minister to come on record to declare BJP office bearers are not in the drug trade in Goa.”

Chodankar said it is beyond imagination that 100 kg of ketamine was seized at Pissurlem in Sattari from an industrial plot of long serving BJP office bearer.

“The raid was conducted by central agency – Directorate of Revenue Intelligence – while State police were completely in darkness over the existence of such a factory. This has clearly indicated that the intelligence of Goa Police has miserably failed or they have been providing protection to this factory,” the Congress president alleged.

He said that the seizure of ketamine is extremely seriously and the State machinery ignorance on it cannot be accepted as ‘yet another goof up’. The Chief Minister, who is the Home Minister, has to answer, he said.