This is a welcome statement, but it can have a detrimental effect on crime only if the police force actually acts on the field, and does not merely make statements that will grab headlines. Goa desperately needs strong action against organised crime, before the situation deteriorates. One killing, can always lead to more, and if the police are not strict with the first, then stopping gangwars will turn a thorny issue.
Here’s what Goa Police has planned for organised crime: preventive action against habitual offenders and budding criminals, which may include externment, and if required action under stringent provisions of the National Security Act. To achieve this, the District SPs will prepare a list of top 10 habitual and budding criminals in their area and initiate action against them. The SP Crime has also been directed to launch a drive against organised crime such as matka gambling. Goa Police says they will be investigating all angles of organised crime. A senior police officer told Herald that the police ‘have zero per cent tolerance towards crime, especially organised crime. Goa Police has historically, and till date, dealt with organised crime very strictly’.
There won’t be many people in the State who will accept the statement that historically Goa Police has dealt with organised crime strictly. There have been times in the past decades when the police have cracked down on organised crime and crime in general. These have been sporadic efforts, and depended almost completely on the political equations prevailing at that time. Till date, almost 30 years later, Ravi Naik is remembered for his action against gangwars during his stint as chief minister. It follows that after that particular action, there hasn’t been any major operation that has been launched against organised crime in the State. Will Goa now see a clean-up of crime?
In the context of the shooting at St Cruz, the term ‘budding criminals’ that the police will be identiying assumes importance, as there have been three juveniles who have been apprehended by the police for their involvement in the incident. It was juveniles that were sent back to the crime scene to recover the body of the man who was shot and to take him to the hospital. The involvement of minors in the crime is a matter of grave concern. The police have to tackle their in crime very differently, as the law is different when it is applied to juveniles. At the same time, the force has to be firm to stop them from turning to a life of crime. This calls for not just legal and policing measures, but also counselling for the minors.
The police have also said, they will be investigating all angles of organised crime in the coming days. The shooting at St Cruz has made the police sit up, but organised crime has many facets. Take for instance matka itself, that is perhaps the most openly displayed criminal activity taking place in the State. If the police have now been directed to act against matka, then it infers that such illegal gambling has been taking place till now. Will the police now act against matka, and also all other criminal activities, with an iron hand? Mere statements will now not do, they have to be matched by action on the ground, which the people expect to see in the coming days. That will indicate how serious the police force is on tackling crime.
