The people were armed with guns and iron rods. Three rounds were fired, three persons were injured and had to be hospitalised. The number of crimes where guns are used has increased. This is not the first gun attack in the State and will also not be the last as there appears to be little that the law enforcement authorities have done and will do to stop this. Since June last year, there have been a string of incidents where guns were used in crime, a weapon that was otherwise rarely utilised by criminals or gangs in Goa.
In June 2020, a dispute between two gangs led to a shooting in the middle of the night in a residential area at St Cruz. The use of firearms led to one member of a gang being killed. Just a little over a couple of months later, in September 2020, in Margao jeweller Swapnil Walke was shot and stabbed multiple times by a group of robbers in the teeming town in daylight. This year in February, again in Margao, notorious criminal Shaikh Anwar alias Tiger was shot by a rival gang in the middle of a busy road at Fatorda. In April, an argument between two business rivals, owners of poultry farms led to one shooting at the other on the hand. In July a man was shot at in Bogmalo in daylight crime and died later that night. There is no end to the use of firearms in crime in Goa.
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The authorities may deny it, but we are looking at the slow collapse of the law and order situation in Goa, that if not paused right away, will later be difficult to reverse. Had the authorities been firm with earlier crimes where people were found with guns, would the use of firearms have increased? Crime increases when criminals are confident that they will manage to escape the law. The law in Goa does not have a long arm, but a very short one that can be twisted easily. That is the impression that is being given by the relaxed manner in which crime in Goa is tackled by the police. The Chief Minister says that an inquiry will be initiated in the Calangute attack. Why not a quick investigation and trial that will portray that the government means business and that crime will not be taken lightly?
The Calangute incident occurred at the entrance to the famous beach, during the peak tourism week. Thousands of tourists from across the country are expected to visit the beach on New Year’s Eve. What message goes out from this incident about Goa being a safe tourist destination? Tourists were not attacked, but a restaurant that is very famous and one that put Calangute on the tourism map was attacked. This itself suffices to mar the tourism image of Goa.
Gun culture and heinous crime should find no place in Goa. The aim of the government has to be to keep Goans and their property safe. A few years ago it would be difficult to imagine a crime with a gun. It was so rare. Now it is not and that is very disturbing. People are no longer shocked when they hear of guns being fired or people being shot, simply because it is now no longer uncommon. Unless the government and the law enforcement authorities act quickly and make an example of those charged for these crimes, this will only increase. It is a challenge to the government to deliver on this.
