MARGAO: Francisco Pereira who has been discharged from charges of desecrating religious monuments to hurt people’s religious sentiments in the 10th case on Wednesday squarely blamed Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardessai and Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral for his predicament.
He said that Nilesh has a grudge against him since 2000 when he contested unsuccessfully the Curchorem Cacora Municipal elections and alleged that Manohar Parrikar had asked him to own up responsibility for the desecrations and he would be taken care of.
He said he was threatened and coerced into admitting to the desecrations and accused a police officer of even threatening to shoot him by pointing a firearm at him if he did not confess to the desecrations.
“I was told to spend a few months in the jail over the matter and return home free once the cases were disposed off and I would be taken care of after being released from the jail,” he said adding that those who spoke to him knew about his earlier stint in the jail.
It may be recalled that Francisco was sentenced for shooting at a person and spent about four years in the jail before he was released after completing his term.
“Once I am released the truth will be revealed and everybody will know who is right and who is wrong,” he said while waiting for the procedures to be followed after the judge pronounced her order on Wednesday.
He expressed confidence of being discharged in all the cases filed against him primarily because they are framed up charges and he is not involved in any of them.
In Wednesday’s case he said he was returning from the airport with a family he had gone to collect when the incident is supposed to have occurred. “I had told the police to check the CCTV records at the airport where I should be visible at that time,” he said.
While it is true that since the time Francisco was arrested there has not been a single desecration of any religious monument in Goa but on the other hand all the cases that have been argued before charge have resulted in discharge of Pereira.
