17 Jan 2022  |   06:17am IST

Illegal massage parlours outnumber legal ones in North’s coastal belt

Police inquiry reveals 23 possess valid licences while 41 others are illegally operating in Calangute, Candolim, Baga, Arpora, Anjuna and Vagator in violation of Acts
Illegal massage parlours outnumber legal ones  in North’s coastal belt

BASURI DESAI


PANJIM:  Taking cognisance of December 2021 Herald report that the tourists were solicited on the pretext of massage service and looted in broad daylight, the Goa Police inquiry conducted for the first time revealed that illegal massage parlours have outnumbered the legal ones in North Goa’s coastal tourist belt. 

The inquiry revealed that 23 massage parlours possess valid licences while 41 others are illegally operating in Calangute, Candolim, Baga, Arpora, Anjuna and Vagator in violation of various Acts. 

It may be recalled that Herald in December 2021 had published the report that the tourists were solicited in the pretext of massage service and were being looted in broad daylight. Following the news report, Calangute Police have written to the Bardez Sub Divisional Magistrate to establish a Special Squad to maintain a strict vigil on such activities and nab the culprits. 

Following the Herald report, Superintendent of Police Legal and Vigilance Bossuet Silva had sent notices to all village panchayats in Bardez stating that there are reports of increasing crimes associated with mushrooming of massage and spa establishments. 

He had requested the panchayats to provide the details of massage parlours for effective policing in the tourist belt. 

From the information revealed by the panchayats, it has been noted that there are a total of four legal massage parlours in Candolim and 12 are illegal. In Calangute Panchayat jurisdiction, there are 13 legal and 13 illegal massage parlours, in Arpora there are five legal and three illegal parlours whereas Anjuna has only one legal parlour and 13 are illegal. 

A senior Goa Police officer said, “The file pertaining to the illegal business of massage and spa establishments has been forwarded to the top brass seeking further directions in the matter.” 

Unaccounted and unchecked massage and spa establishments in the coastal belt have put Goa’s tourism in bad light in the past wherein a couple of incidents of those soliciting tourists have gone unreported while only a few have been reported at the police stations.      


IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar