It is learnt that the Director of Tourism had issued orders appointing Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar as president, Sarvand Bhagat as secretary and Mahesh Naik as treasurer of the Shigmo committee. All three are BJP members, while the previous committee members hailing from different political fronts were discarded.
On the parade day, things went crooked as two groups clashed with each other, and the traffic was disrupted till the time of going to press.
It is learnt that one Sanjay Komarpant, who is a close associate of Tawadkar, assaulted a person. The people reacted angrily and summoned the Canacona police. They also demanded the arrest of Komarpmant, but the latter fled the site.
Thereafter, local leaders Janardhan Bhandari, Ramakant Gaonkar, Dhiraj Gaonkar, Sandesh Telekar and others squatted on the road in protest. A large police team, including Dy SP Sammy Tavares, reached to the spot and was able to partially pacify the protestors.
The float parade, which was given more police protection, was disrupted many times on the highway and was moving at snail’s pace.
