Twenty six days have passed since the illegal demolition of the Agarwadekars’ house at Assagao. Meanwhile, the accused Pooja Sharma applied for anticipatory bail, which was rejected by the court. The plea for interim bail before the High court too was rejected. However, the Goa police have not arrested Pooja Sharma. In this edition of Street Voices, Herald TV asked people, ‘Is Goa Police shielding Pooja Sharma for higher political interest?
“Pooja Sharma has taken law into her own hands and done as she wanted. This will set a precedent to everybody. Government should do something against these outsiders who come and buy land in Goa do dadagiri to sell their land. They pressurize their owners, send goons and Goans are forced to sell their land. So that this does not happen, Government should show that dadagiri will not be tolerated. I request the govt to immediately arrest Pooja Sharma and law should take its course.”
Olencio Simoes, General Secretary, GRE
“The High court has not given Pooja Sharma relief from arrest. Court denied her. At that time police should have taken her into custody. Since court has clearly observed that though Pooja Sharma was not there when demolition was going on, but being the owner she is part of the conspiracy, therefore she was not given relief. Police think that Pooja Sharma is not any Tom, Dick and Harry and therefore they are not arresting her.”
Savio Coutinho, Convenor, Shadow Council
“We don’t know in which hole Pooja Sharma is hiding. We say India is an advanced country. If an accused runs away, we can easily trace him through his mobile location through the towers. Our Intelligence Bureau is so smart that they can catch any accused. When someone gave bad words to the chief minister, the police arrested the accused within 24 hours. But today when Pooja Sharma applies for anticipatory bail, her advocate takes her signature. So the advocate knows where she is but police cannot find her. This is a major question. This is a complete failure on the part of the Home Minister who is the chief minister and the failure of the entire government.”
Sanjay Barde, Activist
STREET VOICES: Is Goa police shielding Pooja Sharma for higher political interest?
