PANJIM: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal’s controversial statement about easy availability of drugs in Goa evoked sharp reactions from the coastal State with Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar offering him an eight-day trip to weed out his misconceptions. The ruling and opposition parties also asked him to get his facts right.
“When did he (Badal) come to Goa for a stay? Let him come, stay here for eight days, go around places and clear his misconception that he is nurturing about Goa. I am ready to host him all through his stay here,” a visibly upset CM said.
Parsekar, who represents Mandrem constituency, hit out at the criticism stating that some people hold misconceptions about Goa and wrongly believe that locals are scantily dressed, busy drinking the whole day and drugs are freely available on the beaches.
Badal, at a conclave on Saturday, had stated that Goa was the easiest place in India to get drugs but there are hardly any arrests. He had gone on to claim that though Punjab was acting tough, it gets branded as the drug capital. Goa Police records, however, dispute his claims. As per data available with Herald, 115 drug-related cases were filed by the Anti-Narcotics Cell at different police stations and 128 arrests were made in the last two years.
MLAs representing the coastal belt have rubbished the Shiromani Akali Dal leader’s statement asking him to do his homework correctly before presenting allegations as facts in public. Panchayats Minister and Pernem MLA Rajendra Arlekar said, “The statement is not correct.”
Calangute MLA Michael Lobo alleged that Punjabi youth are involved in the illicit drug menace. “In Punjab, the local boys and girls are involved in drugs. The locals are biggest consumers there. In Goa, the government is ensuring that drugs are controlled, although it should work towards completely stopping the nuisance. The way he (Badal) has portrayed Goa is absolutely wrong.”
The local police figures further reveal that out of the total arrested alleged drug-peddlers, 72 are of Indian origin of which barely four-to-five percent constitute Goans.
“By and large the local population is not involved in it. We don’t have a bordering country from where there is possibility of smuggling. There is a misconception that drugs are freely available in Goa. The information (that Goa is the easiest place in India for drugs) is factually incorrect,” ANC SP Kartik Kashyap stated.
Against the backdrop of cases detected, the IPS officer explained that Goa is a consumption point and not a source destination. “The quantity of seizures and arrests clearly indicates that we are acting tough against this menace,” he added.
Former Calangute MLA and Congress leader Agnelo Fernandes conceded that drugs are available in Goa but it cannot be compared with Punjab. “Punjab is a big mess. Drugs in that state are sold to fund terrorism,” he alleged.
