MARGAO: After a gap of around seven years Canacona police have filed and submitted a chargesheet at JMFC Canacona on Friday in a case of rioting in the Cotigao Wild life sanctuary, filed almost seven years ago.
The chargesheet has named Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar and seven others as accused. Tawadkar has, however, denied the charges and called it a political case.
Tawadkar, has been accused of bringing a mob to the sanctuary on the night of April 27, 2009 and forcibly releasing two suspected liquor smugglers who had been caught by Forest officers. The complaint in 2009 was filed by Range Forest Officer Paresh Porob and was registered by Police Inspector Suraj Halarnkar.
The case took over seven years to be chargesheeted. Tawadkar, speaking to journalists, said, “I will face the chargesheet because the case has been made a political issue and some people have raked it up because the elections are nearing and they want to raise these small things to bother me.”
Four Police Inspectors have
taken charge of the Police Station of Canacona since 2009. Police Inspectors Raju Raut Desai, Rajesh Kumar Harish Madkaikar and Gurudas Kadam failed to initiate action against the accused in the case probably because of the case being of a high profile nature.
The charge sheet has been filed after the direction of the South Goa Superintendent of Police Shekhar Prabhudessai
