Expressing anguish over the rising number of deaths at the BITS-Pilani K.K. Birla Goa campus, Congress leader Olencio Simoes on Thurs day accused the Home Min istry of presiding over a “catastrophic failure of law and order” in the Cortalim constituency.
The campus falls within Cortalim, and Simoes said residents were in shock as the toll has now climbed to five. Despite repeated com plaints and a formal demand for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe submit ted to the Chief Minister, the Director General of Police, the Verna Police Inspector and the South Goa Collector, Simoes said no meaningful action had been taken. “This exposes a complete collapse of law and order under the Home Ministry.
Since the time of Goa’s liberation, our constituency has never wit nessed such a catastrophic failure of governance and administrative machinery,” he said. He recalled a spate of troubling incidents in re cent years, ranging from gold chain robberies and multiple bike thefts to mul ti-crore gambling raids, il legal call centre operations duping people, fatal bull attacks, and even a police shootout.
“And now, repeat ed deaths inside a college campus,” he remarked, call ing it not mere negligence but “a breakdown of gov ernance.” The Congress leader de manded the immediate arrest of the BITS-Pilani management for failing to safeguard students and pressed for an independent SIT to investigate allega tions of academic pressure, substance abuse around the campus, and what he termed a nexus allowing tragedies to recur. He also urged the government to shut down all illegal bars operating in the vicinity of the institute, saying they were “openly thriving under the nose of law enforcement.”
“The people of Cortal im will not remain silent spectators while lives are being lost and lawlessness prevails. Justice delayed is justice denied. The gov ernment must act now,” Si moes declared