Team Herald
PANJIM: The Police Sub Inspector (PSI), who was involved in going slow on the assailants in the brutal knife attack on Delhi tourist at Anjuna, has been placed under suspension and asked to report to the reserve line of North Goa.
The suspension order was issued on late Monday evening. All the accused, who have been arrested, have been remanded in eight days of police custody.
North Goa Superintendent of Police (SP) Nidhin Valsan confirmed that the PSI has been suspended. Meanwhile, in continuation of the action against the accused persons involved in the attack on tourist, the fourth accused Joseph Alex Lobo, 57, who is a resident of Soranto waddo, Anjuna has been arrested on Monday morning. The Deputy Superintendent of Police Jivba Dalvi informed that more arrests will be made. “We will not spare anyone involved in this offence” Dalvi warned.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had on Monday afternoon assured that the Police officers who did not book the assailants of the tourist under 307 of IPC and arrest the accused in the knife attack case will face immediate suspension and inquiry.
As soon as the case of the knife attack on the Delhi tourist was brought to the notice of senior officers, Section 307 was added to the FIR. Soon three accused Royston Reginaldo Dias and Nyron Reginaldo Dias from Demello waddo, Anjuna and Kashinath Agarwadekar from Soranto vaddo, Anjuna were arrested. A departmental action, preliminary inquiry and action was initiated against the erring police staff.
Ashwini Kumar Chandrani and his family members were assaulted by a group of residents from Anjuna with fist blows, kicks, belt, baseball bat and knife causing grievous injuries. The incident had occurred on March 5 after which the victim Jatin Sharma and his sister went on to social media to highlight his plight and also said that Goa was unsafe following which the police took cognisance of the incident and arrested the accused.
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CM advises tourists, locals against taking law into
their hands
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has advised tourists visiting the State and the locals not to take law into their hands stating that the assault incident at Anjuna was unfortunate.
Sawant, who chaired a review meeting of the Goa Police, Labour Department and the Tourism Department following the brutal attack on tourists, called for sensitisation of their staff to avoid recurrence of such incidents in the future. He said, “After conducting a detailed inquiry we have realised that the deadly assault started after a verbal spat between the tourists and the accused waiter.”
“There was instigation from both the ends,” the Chief Minister added.
“We are urging the tourists to dial 100 if any such untoward incident occurs and have been requesting the locals to be more welcoming and to be patient,” said Sawant.
The Chief Minister also assured the tourists that the government will ensure their safety and security and that the State is a safe tourist destination.
According to Sawant, there were as many as 1,200 hotels registered in the State before the Tourism Department started a drive of registering these hotels and guesthouses. Today there are over 6,000 registered hotels and guesthouses and the government will welcome those who want to conduct legal businesses in the State.
The managers and owners of hotels have been urged to ascertain the criminal antecedents of the person/s employed and also to fill tenant verification forms.
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Why has only a PSI been singled
out in the matter?
The question doing the rounds in police circles is why has only a PSI been singled out in the case pertaining to the brutal knife attack on a Delhi tourist at Anjuna.
“When an offence is registered and Sections are applied against the accused persons only after discussion with the police inspector in charge, then why a PSI is now singled out in this matter?” asked a police officer on condition of anonymity.
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Cops need to be sensitised, trained to handle such incidents: TTAG
The Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) has said that the police in the state need to be trained and sensitised to handle situations like the one that took place in Anjuna. The association has requested the government to take measures to make tourists as well as locals feel safe.
The TTAG says that with the recent rising number incidents of crime against tourists in Goa, the TTAG would like to clearly state no one may it be local or a tourist should take the law into their own hands and both need to treat each other respectfully and follow the law of the land (one as a guest, other as a host).
“No one is above the law. There have been numerous instances of harassment of tourists by touts on the road & on bikes. The Police & Home Department need to look into this and strictly enforce the law & stop such harassment. The police also need to be sensitised and adequately trained to deal with such situations going forward & enforce the law properly” said TTAG president Nilesh Shah.
“Perhaps an empowered tourism police task force in each district/taluka needs to be formed who are directly meant to deal with such situations and are only answerable to the higher ups (DGP/IGP/SP) with no political interference,” he said.
“Proper enforcement of the law should be followed in true spirit by the police & this will only happen when there is no interference from the political dispensation. There are a lot of good initiatives started by the government such as a single window in water sports, Goa Taxi app, Entrepreneur Transport Schemes etc. These initiatives require proper support from locals and tourists, along with proper implementation and enforcement from government agencies to be successful,” he added.
Shah said, “TTAG is in constant dialogue with the government on various tourism-related issues and therefore would urge the government to take such measures to make locals as well as tourists feel safe in our State at all times.”
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Non-cognisable offence against
woman visitor for hitting security guard at bom jesus Basilica gate
The incident of tourists misbehaving with the security guard at Old Goa has come to light after the Police registered a non-cognisable offence against a woman visitor, who allegedly hit the guard with her footwear at the gate of the Basilica of Bom Jesus.
The video of a woman tourist hitting the security guard went viral on social media.
The arguments erupted after she was not allowed to enter the main gate of the Basilica before the gates officially opened for the visitors.
Referring to the incident, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that the Old Goa Police have taken cognisance of unruly behaviour of the tourist. “The tourist was completely at fault as far as the Old Goa incident was concerned. We have registered a non-cognisable offence and are on the lookout for the accused,” he said.
“The tourists have to check actual visiting hours instead of checking the time on Google before entering into an argument and hitting the guard on duty,” Sawant said.
“The tourists also need to obey the law of the land,” he added.