PANJIM: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday denied allegations of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) State president Adv Amit Palekar that he was arrested only because he refused to join the saffron party.
Reacting to Adv Palekar’s charge that he was arrested because he refused to join the BJP, former MLA and BJP spokesman Dayanand Sopte said that the police are given free hand and they will not arrest anyone without evidence. He said that Adv Palekar’s statement is just to gain political mileage.
Meanwhile, AAP leader Valmiki Naik has charged that the State government is trying to make Adv Amit Palekar a scapegoat. Police are acting at the behest of political masters while protecting the main accused in the case, he said, raising concerns over deteriorating law and order situation in the State.
Naik also expressed gratitude to opposition political leaders for supporting Adv Palekar and speaking out against the conspiracy strategies employed by the BJP government.
Congress president Amit Patkar condemned the brutal act of the government targeting opposition party leaders. He said Adv Palekar’s unlawful arrest shows the failure of the Goa police in the Banastarim accident case. This is a desperate attempt to target the I.N.D.I.A. alliance leaders, he said.
Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao said, “The most primary task of the Crime Branch investigating the horrifying Banastarim accident is to gather impeccable evidence to ensure conviction of the accused, With focus of Crime Branch turning to Adv Palekar from the start itself, it is natural to have doubts on the objective and outcome of investigations. This should not finally degenerate into political witch-hunting where political agenda of ruling party gets precedence over conviction of the accused.”
Expressing his shock with the arrest of his colleague Adv Amit Palekar, Aldona MLA Adv Carlos Alvares Ferreira asked, “Does it mean that the police have no evidence in the Banastarim case as evidence has been destroyed? Is the Goa police truly doing a serious investigation?”
The Goa Forward Party said that the BJP can fool itself but not discerning Goans. The BJP using the police to settle political scores is a dirty act only BJP can do!
