Goa known for its ‘everyone is welcome’ attitude is the most perfect destination for criminals, which include murderers, drug peddlers, history sheeters, extremists, and even those with terror links.
The occasional arrests which act as a wake-up call for the enforcement agencies, who then carry out a spree of tenant verification drives point at a flawed system of governance that the State has entangled itself.
Charles Shobraj’s arrest from the popular restaurant in Porvorim on April 6, 1986, will always stand out among the most infamous arrests. Known as the ‘bikini killer’ and ‘serpent’, Shobraj was arrested by the Bombay Police without the knowledge of their Goa counterparts.
Pakistani-born American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the members of Lashkar-e-Taiba and masterminds of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai had lived in Goa for nearly six years and loitered in the coastal belt of North Goa before being arrested. In September 2012, terror convict Yasin Bhatkal’s links to Goa were exposed, who had stayed in a rented house at Anjuna between November 2011 and February 2012.
In November 2016, Sikh extremist Harminder Singh Mintoo was arrested from a railway station in New Delhi while he intended to travel to Goa and subsequently flee from the country.
On February 14, 2015, Goa Police arrested a Dawood Ibrahim gang member, Shyam Kishor Garikapatti, who was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts and was living in Saligao for eight years after jumping parole.
Earlier, in October 2009, Goa police out of luck had nabbed one of Britain’s most wanted fugitives, Ajay Kaushal, after his British friend was found dead in a hotel room. In July 2010, gangster Umaid-ur-Rahman, a key sharp shooter of Chhota Rajan gang, who was staying with his wife, parents and aides, was arrested by Mumbai Police from Arambol. He was residing a few metres away from the police outpost.
Most recently, Goa Police in coordination with Navi Mumbai Police had nabbed wanted criminal Vikrant Deshmukh alias Vicky from Panjim on July 31 last year. In September-October last year, Goa Police conducted a thorough search and arrested more than 25 Bangladeshi nationals staying in the State illegally. All of them were associated with businesses in the rural areas of Goa.
The list of arrests of other criminals wanted in respective States of the country over the years is long. Thus, one can only imagine the number of criminals who have not even been identified by the local police and have been living in the State.
Goa’s tryst with foreign nationals and Indians involved in illegal drug trade goes down several decades. The tiny state has become a safe haven for such criminals who escape the clutches of the justice system.
However, the question is how such grave lapses keep recurring multiple times. Goa Police is prompt in pointing a finger at landlords who rent their premises, but what stops its personnel from carrying out regular tenant verification drives?
While, it is certainly the responsibility of every guest house owner to that rules are followed, questions arise on the role of the local representatives. The elected panch members and the councillors in municipal areas have failed to ensure that their wards are governed well and the fundamental duties are enforced upon the citizens.
Additionally, the Goa Police needs to introspect its intelligence units as they are failing to provide crucial inputs. And if the administration feels there is a robust system in place, then the only conclusion one can draw is that corruption is what makes law enforces to look the other way.
The government will have to delve into the reasons for failure of the system. Panchayats and municipal bodies have been passing resolutions to ensure 100 per cent tenant verification, but the buck stops at the elected representatives who turn a blind eye to the illegalities just to keep their vote bank intact. And the police share equal responsibility in letting our heaven turn into a haven for criminals.
