Like the many ground reports and travelogues we bring to you on the Margao page, this one is an adventurous one in the wee hours of the morning to check on the security arrangement by the Margao Police and how does the department, along with the MMC handle crime, night patrolling, surveillance and the movement of cops.
We set out at 12.20 am on Monday night, a day after the hectic 7th day Ganesh idol immersion celebrations.
The grouse by Margao residents is that the streets are unsafe, there are no cops patrolling at night, unknown persons loom large on the streets, bars flout late night rules and anti-social elements are drinking, smoking and doing drugs in the dark alleys and bylanes.
We take a 22-km route across seven entry points of Margao and review them.
We do this based on complaints from scared mothers, men, senior citizens, children and people afraid to leave their home at night, fearing a badly behaved cop will stop them and harass them, or someone will ambush them in the dark when they step out of the ATM or someone will just grab a gold chain or sneak into your house or the migrants that move about at night or just the thief waiting to get his hands on your money, ornaments and vehicles.
The possibilities of a bad experience at night are very high, let’s have a reality check.
The only place we saw cops was a convoy of 12 cops with guns, lathis and a relaxed attitude as they strolled outside town police station and making merry on ras omelette but none seemed to have ridden or walked to any of these junctions to guard the entrance to the town.
