PANJIM: As many as 30 Congress workers including Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Amit Patkar were in Thursday detained while protesting outside Raj Bhavan against the questioning of former AICC President Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald case.
The protestors were stopped on the road leading to Raj Bhavan and warned of detention as the police claimed they were refused permission to hold the protest owing to security reasons. Defying the police warning, the protestors marched ahead as they waved black flags shouting slogans against the government, which ultimately led to their detention.
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Patkar told reporters that they had an appointment with the Goa Governor despite which they were detained whereas North Goa Superintendent of Police Shobhit Saxena denied the claim. “Representatives of a political party (Congress) had come here to stage a protest. They blocked the road creating a nuisance to the smooth movement of vehicular traffic. No permission is granted for a protest that creates a public nuisance. We have detained them and sent them to the police station. As of now, the nuisance that was created on the road has been cleared and the traffic movement is back to normal,” he told reporters soon after they cleared the road blockage.
Patkar said that the BJP-led government was busy targeting the Opposition leaders using the Central agencies. MLAs Sankalp Amonkar, Yuri Alemao, and Alton D’Costa later rushed to the Panjim Police Station to meet the detained party workers.
Amonkar alleged that the government is trying to silence the Opposition “but the Congress will not back out” while Alemao condemned the police action stating it was their basic right to protest that has been taken away. “People are watching. We condemn this act of the police and the government,” Alemao said.
The detained workers were later in the evening produced before the Sub Divisional Magistrate and released after each submitting Rs 5,000 personal bonds. The SDM has scheduled hearing into this matter, on Monday.
