TEAM HERALD
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VASCO: The arrest of Mormugao Taluka Action Committee (MTAC) advisor and former revenue minister Jose Philip D’Souza, his brother Pascoal and four supporters led to some tension in Vasco on Tuesday, as supporters gathered outside the police station demanding his release.
Besides Jose Philip and Pascoal, who is a Vasco councillor, Vasco police also arrested Pritam Naik, Asif Shaik, Abdul Jawal and Gurudas Tari under Sections 143, 147, 341, 506 (II) and 149 of CrPC.
Police claim that Jose Philip and his supporters were arrested because they were allegedly pressurising shop owners to close down their shops. “They were taken into preventive custody in order to avoid a law and order problem,” said DySP Lawrence D’Souza.
Describing his arrest as “politically motivated”, D’Souza however stated that the Vasco Bandh was “100 per cent successful.”
As news of the arrest of the D’Souza brothers spread across the city, their supporters rushed to the police station to demand their release. The fisherwomen, who were sitting idle in the fish market due to the ongoing strike by trawler owners, also joined the supporters outside the police station.
A strong police force in riot gear was stationed outside the police station to cordon off the area.
D’Souza and his supporters were released on bail at about 4 pm and the crowd then dispersed from the site.
Later speaking to Herald, D’Souza stated that the Bandh was peaceful and they did not force any one to close their shops. “Every one closed their shops at their own will and they supported our Bandh,” claimed D’Souza.
Accusing Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida of forcing shop owners to keep their shops open, D’Souza said he had filed a complaint to the Vasco police, but said the police did not act in the matter.
On the other hand, Almeida told Herald that D’Souza, who had called Vasco Bandh on Tuesday, had sent his children to school. “On one side, he calls for a Bandh and on the other hand he sends his children to school, thereby exposing his double-standards,” added Almeida.
“I received complaints from bus owners and shopkeepers that they were being forced to close their shops and stop plying the buses. I visited them to give them confidence that the government and the police is with them and that, they should not give in to any pressure,” said Almeida.
Meanwhile, the State Nationalist Congress Party criticised the police for taking NCP leader and former minister Jose Philip D’souza and others into preventive custody at Vasco on Tuesday.
“The Mormugao Taluka Action Committee called the Bandh to highlight the apathy and deficiency of the functioning of the police department. We demand that the management in-charge of the school also be arrested for neglecting the security of the schoolchildren,” stated a press note issued by State NCP President Surendra Sirsat.
