PANJIM: There was confusion and a high degree of complacency visible in the Police Department, as even 24 hours after the Ports Administration issued a terror alert, the State’s Chief Secretary and Goa Police claimed they were not informed of any such development, raising questions about the communication gap between government departments in the State.
An urgent noting issued by Captain of Ports James Braganza to water sports operators, casino vessels, barges and cruise vessels on Friday evening informed them about a possible terror attack by anti-social elements. The alert with the subject ‘Threat Input’ was issued based on intelligence inputs shared by the district coast guard, and a copy was forwarded to Ports Minister Jayesh Salgaonkar and CS Dharmendra Sharma.
However, shockingly, neither the CS nor Goa Police or even the Coastal Police were aware about any such alert.
Speaking to Herald, Sharma said the communiqué had not reached him at least till Saturday evening. He, however, maintained that the threat input was general and not specific to Goa. “It is a general input, nothing specific to Goa. If there is anything actionable, it will definitely come to me,” he said.
Goa’s police brass too claimed that the State was not on high alert while expressing surprise over the notice. “There is no such high alert. We have not received any alert. In fact there is no alert,” a top ranked officer stated.
Another IPS officer pointed at the grading of such alerts being issued. “The CoP’s alert is a general warning, and moreover there is a format over such alert, which is not seen in the present one,” this officer said. The DGP is on official trip outside the State.
A Secretariat source, on the other hand, asserted that the Indian Coast Guard had alerted the Goa Police, Fisheries Department, Captain of Ports and another government agency in the State. “When the other departments were already sent the alert, there is no point in repeating it. The concerned departments will act based on the noting to them,” an IAS officer justified.
The confusion has raised questions over coordination among security agencies in the State and interestingly this comes at a time when the State will undertake a two-day Sagar Kavach security drill exercise on April 18-19.
