Team Herald
MARGAO: A day after he was accosted, ridiculed and threatened by a gang of Bajrang Dal men outside his doorstep, former MLA and historian Uday Bhembre approached Fatorda police on Saturday to file a complaint about the incident. However, while the police confirmed that they had received the complaint, till the time of going to press, no FIR had been registered.
Bhembre, an octogenarian hero of the Opinion Poll, had initially decided to not go to the police, but changed his mind in the morning. Speaking to O Heraldo, he said, “The matter had got over after they gave me that lecture. There was the issue of trespass, but I had let it go as I thought it was a minor matter. But then, I have also realised that it's not a question of my safety alone, but also the safety of the public. Today, if this could happen to me, it could happen to anyone else, and that has to be stopped. The reason for filing this complaint is to ensure the government takes action and also it is on record. Tomorrow, the government can't look the other way, saying no one came to them with a complaint and thus they didn't act.”
Bhembre’s complaint details how the group of around 25 men approached his house around 9.15 on Friday, trespassing, shouting slogans, and addressing him in violent language. He mentions that the group was led by Viraj Dessai from Cuncolim and members of the group later burned his effigy, allegedly provoking others to harm him.
“Once they saw my friends and family, and later, the police arriving, they didn't go ahead with whatever else they had planned. They must have wanted to burn my effigy here, but did not. Today morning I saw in a video that they had burned my effigy in Cuncolim. There, they also made a lot of speeches directed against me. These warnings and statements of theirs can be considered as a threat too and this needs to come to the attention of the authorities,” Bhembre said, adding that there is an ongoing attempt to mix religion with politics to create incitement.
In his complaint, Bhembre also claims that over a year ago, Dessai had posted a video containing open threats against him, which he had ignored at the time.
Fatorda police confirmed that they had received the complaint, but no offence had been registered so far. Similarly, Cuncolim police stated that no case had been filed over the burning of Bhembre’s effigy or the alleged provocative statements made against him.