BASURI DESAI
basuri@herald-goa.com
ANJUNA: Two pit bulls prowl the entrance of Omkar Palyekar’s palatial residence in Anjuna, guarding their master when he is not in jail. When the unwanted guests of the Narcotics bureau landed at his doorstep, on Thursday night, Goa’s most notorious home grown drug lord (arguably) was probably there. The NCB sleuths did not find him but found Rs 6 lakh worth of charas, and his brother Runal who is fronting the drug operations of this gang. Runal was arrested.
The latest NCB raid assumes immense significance, since for long this central agency has been tracking the reach and the extent of the growing footprint of Goan drug gangs where the Palyekar brothers tower over the rest.
The pit bulls did their job, as Omkar escaped, on the run again, even as he is on bail in three criminal cases including the one of the murder of Nigerian, Obado Uzoma Simeon and two attempt to murder (307 IPC) cases. He was arrested by Anjuna police five or six times in different crimes including murder. But the Palyekars also have a political pedigree. His father Keshav Palyekar is extremely well connected, more so as the son of a former Congress MLA Shambhu Palyekar.
“Earlier, when the police arrested or called Omkar for investigations, Keshav Palyekar, his father, arrived with senior lawyers at the station and bailed his son out,” according to cops in the Anjuna police station. It’s evident that the Goa police and its agencies, ran against some brick walls in their effort to go after Goa’s biggest drug lord.
Keshav has contested the assembly polls from the Siolim constituency. He was also a panch member and deputy sarpanch of Anjuna village panchayat. He has been operating a hotel and restaurant in Anjuna for past few decades.
Omkar’s gang, the “Chapora boys” started off with 15 youngsters who used to deal in cocaine and charas on Anjuna’s coast but it was divided after the Nigerian murder case. In their mid twenties now, Omkar and Runal, Bhaiya, Saish, Notko are the key members, who handle the buying, selling and distribution of drugs. Omkar has a history sheet in the Anjuna police station.
In Anjuna and Chapora, the Chapora boys are a bit of an ‘institution’, for keeping the Nigerians at bay. The Chapora boys have clearly taken over the trade in these parts and police sources inform that they are under the tutelage of a well-known goon who is very close to a senior ruling party politician.
It’s just as well, that a National agency, is hot on their pursuit, because the local police have to cut their chase, when political buttons are pressed.
