MARGAO: The alleged police assault on Lester D’Souza, a football fan and his parents after the ISL fixture at the Fatorda Stadium on Thursday has evoked strong reactions from several quarters with many calling the incident as “unfortunate” and “in bad faith”.
The alleged assault occurred after FC Goa managed to come back and defeat Delhi Dynamos 3-2.
“Fans are important part of football. In football the excitement level is quite high and anything can happen and here the cops and the security have to be very patient. Anything can happen in a heat of a moment but the security should know how to handle the situation. They just can’t assault the fans. It’s very sad that such incident has occurred and we shouldn’t see such things in future, said Brahmanand Sankhwalkar, Arjuna awardee and former India captain.
The incident invited lot of criticism when a video of the incident went viral on the social media.
Reacting strongly to the assault incident, the recently elected GFA President Churchill Alemao said, “What the police have done isn’t right. The fans shouldn’t be beaten up and it’s unfortunate that this has happened. This is a brutal attack on the fan and action should be taken against the police personnel. The stadiums are filled with emotions but such attacks should be condemned.”
It may be recalled that Lester D’Souza, along with his parents Seby and Tina, had come to watch the match from Anjuna. After the match, they allegedly got into an altercation with the police personnel who were guiding them to vacate the stadium.
Lester allegedly swung a fist at PSI Rounak Kadam of the IRB Panjim who was in civil dress. Seeing their colleague being assaulted, other police personnel who were not in uniform intervened and an altercation followed in which two other PSIs, including a lady, were allegedly assaulted.
Police had booked a case under Sections 506 (2), 353 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code against the D’Souza family members for criminal intimidation, obstructing a public servant from discharging duties and provoking breach of peace.
Sidharth Mehta, Navelim resident and an ardent football fan said, “The post match incident was very unfortunate and in bad faith. I hope the authorities who are conducting an inquiry will streamline the stadium security operations as currently its going for a toss and we hope such incidents are not repeated in the future.”
“The punches on Goan fans at FC Goa match is a precursor to the punches Goans will get in future,” said Elvis Gomes, former GFA president.
