The special teams that have been formed to solve the crime have failed to establish the motive, and the manhunt launched has failed to trace the two persons who set the man ablaze. What is known is that the man was in his car when he was intercepted, kerosene was poured over him and he was set ablaze. What is also known is that he had been alleging illegalities by a builder and had succeeded in stalling a few projects. None other than the Chief Minister has called this a ‘heinous’ crime that is ‘intolerable’ and directed the police to take strong action against the murderers. Despite forming a team by roping in staff from various police stations, the police have not been able to make any arrest in the case.
It cannot be hidden any longer – the law and order situation in Goa has definitely deteriorated in the past months. While a single incident will not indicate that the State is no longer peaceful, there have been a series of crimes in the past months that attest to lawlessness rising in the State. Since June the State has been witness to a gang war in St Cruz that led to the death of a gang member, rave parties in the Bardez coastal belt that led to the arrest of a Bollywood actor, a daylight robbery turned murder of a jeweller in Margao, the finding of the mutilated body of a newborn whose parents are yet to be traced and now this brutal murder at Torda, besides various gambling raids during the same period. If anymore evidence is required, then one has to just scour the news that appears on the dailies everyday for more crimes.
This – the rise in crime – is a failure of the government and the law enforcing machinery in protecting the citizens. The people of Goa should be assured that they can walk on the streets without any fear. This assurance is missing. This week itself, the Chief Minister announced that there will be two new police districts created citing the upward crime graph as a reason to double the police districts in the State. This indicates that the government is aware of the rise in crime and is taking some step towards this. But, additional police districts are not immediate measures and are part of a long term plan of the State looking at the future when population will increase. The immediate measure is strong action from the police in curtailing crime. Recall also that this week itself, a girl in South Goa was made to drink disinfectant. Just what is this our Goa coming to?
The people react after a crime has been committed. Today the entire opposition is crying out loud that there is a collapse of the law and order situation in the State. They have a valid point, but what is the solution. There have been quick arrests made in the examples of crimes that have been cited above, but these actions of the police have apparently not acted as a deterrent to other would-be criminals. Something is clearly lacking in the policing that makes the criminals ignore the law.
If it is the policing standards that have dropped, they need to be improved. Clearly, this gruesome murder is a premediated crime, so were the perpetrators certain that they could get away with it? The police force has to redeem itself by quickly making arrests in the Torda murder and then should ensure that the residents of Goa stay safe at home and on the street.
