TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Hours after Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said that tourists come to Goa because of drugs, the Opposition Congress has alleged that there was a “clear nexus between the coastal belt legislators of the ruling BJP and the drug mafia.”
Congress also accused the Chief Minister and WRD Minister Dayanand Mandrekar of shielding drug peddlers. “The ruling BJP MLAs along the coastal belt are hand in glove with the drug peddlers. They collect ‘hafta’ to shield and protect them. The main involvement is of chief minister and Minister Dayanand Mandrekar,” said Sunil Kawthankar, spokesperson, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC).
Addressing media persons in the presence of senior Congress leader Agnelo Fernandes, Kawthankar demanded the resignations of Parsekar and Mandrekar. “The drug trade is rampant along the North Goa coastal belt which is represented by BJP MLAs. In the coastal areas of Mandrem and Anjuna, drugs are sold openly with the blessing of ministers who are local MLAs, as well as police,” he alleged.
Parsekar said on Tuesday morning that the drug trade does exist in Goa and that some tourists visit the State only for drugs.
Fernandes, a former Calangute MLA, slammed the government and said drugs were peddled by Nigerians at a Baga lane and Calangute-Candolim belt, where police patrol but do not arrest the peddlers. He also said that drugs were available in Vagator and Anjuna at restaurants.
Fernandes also said that before police come to these areas, word reaches them and they hide the contraband. Fernandes flayed the government for their attitude towards handling the increasing drug trade menace along the coastal areas.
“The government is not serious about curbing or eradicating narcotic trade from the State. Government is acting as a protector to these drug trade mafia,” he said.
“The local MLA (Michael Lobo) is aware of the situation,” Fernandes, who is a special invitee to the GPCC executive committee, said.
The coastal belt MLAs of BJP include Parsekar (Mandrem), Mandrekar (Siolim-Anjuna), Lobo (Calangute), Dilip Parulekar (Saligao) and Rajendra Arelkar (Pernem). Congress also slammed the government for its U-turn statement on zero tolerance to corruption, stating that BJP has paralyzed the entire anti-corruption machinery like Lokayukta, Vigilance department and RTI.
