TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Cardiologist Dr Francisco Colaco, who had taken a stand on secularism and was outspoken against the divisive forces in the run up to the Lok Sabha poll, received an anonymous call last night threatening an acid attack on him and his staff.
The anonymous caller called up his nursing home on the landline at around 9.20 pm on Monday night and threatened the nurse to file a false case of molestation against the doctor and attack him and his staff with acid. When the call was received by the nurse, Dr Colaco had already gone to sleep and he was informed of the incident only on Tuesday morning. The worried family members conveyed the incident to Dr Colaco Tuesday morning, wherein after he narrated it to his close friends and activists before his lawyer Adv Cleofato Coutinho lodged a formal complaint with the Margao police this evening.
The Margao police have registered a non-cognisable case under section 507 of the IPC against the unknown caller. When Herald contacted Margao Police station incharge, PI Sudesh Naik to ascertain the action taken on the complaint, he said the police have registered a non-cognisable case against the miscreants. When asked whether the Margao police would provide protection to the cardiologist, PI Sudesh said “the complainant should take up the matter with the police higher ups for protection”. Moreover, he said that police protection is provided to anyone upon payment of the prescribed fees, indicating that the police would suo moto not provide any protection to the doctor.
Dr Colaco has strongly suspected the hand of the political class, unhappy with his stand on secularism, behind the incident. “My hospital has been operating smoothly without any problem. I do not think that call had anything to do with my hospital. But, I strongly suspect that certain politicians who were unhappy with my stand on secularism might be involved in the incident”, he told the Herald.
Dr Colaco had been forthright in expressing his views on secularism and had taken a stand against the policies of Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar and on the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi.
Incidentally, Dr Colaco’s nursing home was raided by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after the 2004 Lok Sabha poll when the BJP candidate lost the South Goa Parliamentary seat.
