It took one of the finest anti-narcotics forces in the country under the overall supervision of Police Commissioner Hyderabad CV Anand to conclude that to clean Hyderabad, the drug lobby in Goa had to be crushed. Of these three, two were in the Goa police net but managed to get out on bail.
This is the story of three arrests of the last of them, which was affected in the first week of September, which led the Narco cops to finally conclude that a ground-level operation in Goa with their best officers was the need of the hour.
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With interrogations throwing up more leads and names the H NEW team had to hit the ground running in Goa. While they have achieved just one arrest of “Steve”, he is seen as too big a player as a result of which the drug syndicates are believed to have gone underground or hurriedly filed anticipatory bail applications.
Let’s check out the three different cases which led the H NEW team to set off for Goa. One is the end supplier on the chain controlled by drug lord Pritesh Narayan Borkar. The second is a Nigerian interstate drug supplier Osigwe Chukwuemeka James, 37, who came to India in November 2021, on a fake passport in the name of Alamanjo Nmasichukwuand. The third and perhaps the most dangerous is Narendra Arya, the guru of the dark web, who ran an intricate non-contact trading network of nationwide drug procurement and drug supply throughout the country, in a contactless manner.
Arya was actually arrested in September 2, after Pritesh Narayan Borkar along with one Farhan Mohammad Ansari from Madhya Pradesh, who moved operations to Goa.
What is common to all three? All have been arrested at various times this year by the crack Narcotic investigation team of the Hyderabad police. More importantly, Borkar and Arya are fully Goa based while the Nigerian Osigwe, last arrested under the name, Alamanjo had a base in Goa from where he used to travel and trade in drugs.
While on one hand the Hyderabad police are going full throttle behind the drug dealers, Goa’s DGP Jaspal Singh had interestingly told Herald earlier that they (Hyderabad police) were in Goa for a routine visit. Goa Police are serious about cracking on drugs. But Goa is only a drug destination, nothing supplied from here. Such remarks indicate the Goa police have been caught napping.
A couple of years ago, the Entertainment Society of Goa was upset with films that seek to portray the tourist hotspot as a ‘drug or prostitution’ destination and working on guidelines for movie makers to curb attempts to malign the image of the State. The trigger for the move was the just released Hindi film ‘Malang’ which was slammed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for projecting Goa in a poor light. But the fact remains that all these three vices are very much visible in the coastal belts of Goa.
If the inaction is to protect Goa’s image as a tourist-friendly destination, then the government can be rest assured that the image has already been tarnished. Be it the action taken by Hyderabad police or murder of Sonali Phogat or rape and murder of foreigners like Scarlett Keeling…the word is already out and that is all’s not well here.
The Chief Minister has promised to clean up Goa of drugs menace. But that comment too was made after huge embarrassment caused to the BJP ruled State after the death of one of its own associates in Sonali Phogat. Time has come for Pramod Sawant and DGP Singh to stop talking and get cracking. The menace of drugs has spread to our youth. Activists have been for long pointing about the easy availability of drugs near schools in rural areas. We have lost enough time and reputation already. There is no point dithering any further. It is time to catch the bull by its horns and tame it. It is now or never.
