Team Herald
PANJIM: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Monday demanded a judicial inquiry into the assault on tribal leader and anti-mining activist Ravindra Velip while in custody.
Nationalist Congress Party president Jose Philip D’Souza said, “There are clear indications that ruling MLAs in nexus with jail authorities have done this cruel act.”
The Nationalist Congress Party president said the law and order situation in the State has deteriorated, with people finding themselves unsafe in the hands of the police.
Velip, who was arrested on March 22 for stopping trucks ferrying iron ore from a mine in Caurem-Pirla village, was brutally attacked in the jail premises the next day.
Velip was arrested on charges of unlawful assembly and wrongful restraint for blocking the transportation of iron ore, which was e-auctioned by the State to a private ore trading company some months back.
Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has announced that if the need arises a judicial probe can be ordered in the case.
