COLVA: A recommendation to urgently upgrade the Colva police station was made nearly two years ago following a security lapse in a major kidnapping case. With that on the back-burner, coastal-belt residents are worried about the increasing number of burglaries in the Colva police’s jurisdiction, which comprises of Salcete’s coastal belt, from Cavelossim to Majorda.
Sources informed that a group of locals had submitted to the police CCTV footage of a masked thief lurking near commercial establishments at around 3 to 4 am. They also highlighted recent incidents where thieves stole cash and gold from premises that were occupied. They questioned whether the thieves were using chemicals via spraying to go unnoticed.
While Colva police maintain that they increased their night vigil, they also appealed to the public to alert them on hearing or seeing any suspicious activity. However, the rains and stormy weather have given the thieves an advantage.
According to police records, during the last monsoon from June to November 2014, Colva police registered 59 theft cases and detected 21 of them. From the Rs 95 lakh property that was reportedly stolen during that tenure, they recovered property worth Rs 9 lakh.
On June 9, 2013, a magisterial inquiry into the Colva police station was ordered after the accused in a minor-kidnapping case, which brought the locals to the streets, managed to flee the premise and expose hollow the security in and around the police station.
The inquiry led to a recommendation that the Colva police station be upgraded to a full-fledged police station with a lock-up facility, safeguard rooms with grilled windows and a strong compound wall, and that it should be taken up urgently under the coastal security scheme.
Incidentally, the Colva police station is the only station in the Margao police sub-division that operates from a rented house. The police cannot make any major changes to the building or compound wall without the landlord’s permission. Sources said the police department had been in talks with the Tourism Department for government-acquired land for the police station, but in vain. Senior police officers are surprised by the government’s long delay in addressing the land question when it has big plans to rope in private players to develop government-acquired land for tourism-related activities.
