New police station for Saligao, Sangolda raises many questions

TEAM HERALD

bureau@herald-goa.com

CALANGUTE/PORVORIM: The creation of a new police station for only two villages of Saligao and Sangolda has fuelled speculations whether the tug of war between two BJP MLAs had a dominant role in this move. 

Both Calangute MLA Michael Lobo and Saligao MLA Dilip Parulekar however, feigned ignorance about the reasons for locating the police station in Saligao.

At a time when entire talukas such as Canacona, Pernem, Bicholim and Sattari have to rely on just one police station, eyebrows have been raised on the need for a police station at Saligao to cater to the two villages.

While both Saligao MLA and Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo have denied any hand in setting up this new police station, reliable sources disclosed that the need to remove Saligao and Sangolda from the jurisdiction of Calangute police was primarily to diffuse tensions between Parulekar and Lobo.

“Lobo has been unhappy with PI Nilesh Rane who took over as police inspector. He has frequently accused the police inspector of being inefficient at the Calangute Police Station as crimes and other illegalities are on the rise,” said a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Lobo was also unhappy over the police inspector’s inept handling in the proposed bus bay at Calangute, which had sparked off a public spat between the Calangute MLA and Calangute Panch Joseph Sequeira.”

“What further angered Lobo was the police protection provided to Calangute Panchayat to undertake some demolition at Calangute market on December 31, 2013. Such was the tension that Parrikar had to personally rush to Calangute Market to pacify a furious Lobo over the alleged harassment to Calangute BJP Block President Gurudas Shirodkar. Since then, Lobo has been demanding the transfer of PI Rane from the Calangute Police station,” the source added.

According to the source, the chief minister, who was accompanied by Parulekar, tried to pacify Lobo at his office in Calangute. 

“A solution was then worked out to retain PI Rane, who enjoys the confidence of Parulekar, by creating a new police station at Saligao,” said the source.

When contacted, Lobo denied that any solution was worked out following the unsavoury incident at the Calangute market on December 31, but admitted that the functioning of the Calangute Police station had figured in the talks with the chief minister, while he had rushed to Calangute to defuse tensions at Calangute.

“This decision (for a separate police station) was based on assurance on the floor of the Goa Assembly that a separate coastal police station would be created. But it is true that I have been complaining about the inefficient functioning of Calangute Police station, headed by PI Rane to the chief minister and police officials,” Lobo said.

Maintaining that he had not demanded a separate police station at Saligao, Parulekar claimed that he was also not aware why the home department had decided to open the police station.

“The coastal belt of Calangute and Baga is a tourism spot and there has been substantial rise in crimes and police are too busy handling crime. Hence, the government must have thought of detaching Saligao and Sangolda from Calangute Police station and forming a separate police station with two villages for better administration,” stated Parulekar.

Meanwhile, the creation of a new Saligao police station has prompted Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte to demand that additional workload from the neighbouring Porvorim police station be shifted to the new Saligao police station.

Claiming that there is no need for a police station to handle only two villages, Khaunte said: “Povorim Police station is overloaded and the workload should be reduced to enable it to function efficiently. There is no need to have one police station for two villages. The government should detach Pilerne and Nerul villages from Porvorim police station and include them in the Saligao police station,” Khaunte said.