Noise by Opposition in the Assembly over Police Drug Nexus

Panjim: The state legislative assembly on Tuesday witnessed pandemonium with the opposition MLAs led by the leader of the opposition, Mr Manohar Parrikar shouting slogans against the government and moving into the well of the House after the Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat refused to consider their demand as regards ordering a CBI inquiry into the alleged police-drug traders-politicians nexus. The noisy scenes resulted in the Speaker adjourning the House a number of times. Interestingly, some of the treasury benches MLAs including Mr Dayanand Narvekar, Mr Agnelo Fernandes and Mr Pandurang Dhavalikar also supported the demand.

Earlier, the Question Hour saw the Chief Minister stating, "There is a negative impression in the public minds about the police performance; however, the rate of registration of drug-related cases, detection of such cases and the resulting convictions is not bad." He further stated that the case linked to the notorious drug trader Atala was registered by the police suo motto and irrespective of who was involved in the case, the police cracked down in hard way.

The Chief Minister further observed that drugs damage the moral fabric of the society and destroys the whole generation. "I assure the House that there is no interference at any level in the investigation of the case," he added. Mr Parrikar, however, took the wind out of the statement of the Chief Minister by quoting the strictures passed by the High Court against the state police. The court had observed that there is a clear sign of police-drug dealer nexus and the free availability of drugs in the state was a result of the same.

The Aldona MLA, Mr Dayanand Narvekar demanded to know as to whether the government is interested in approaching the higher court to remove the strictures passed against the Goa police by the High Court. "The strictures reflect on the image of the state," he observed. The opposition leader, speaking further stated that the police can go to any extent to save themselves and hence the case should be handed over to an independent agency that is CBI for investigation. Mr Parrikar also quoted two Supreme Court verdicts, which maintained that cases against the police should ideally be probed by an independent agency. He drew the attention of the House to a recent incident wherein a Toyota Innova car was rammed into an electricity pole by the 18-year old son of the then inspector general of police, Mr K D Singh, during the wee hours, stating that no action has been taken in the matter, till date.

The leader of the opposition finally cautioned the Chief Minister that he should stop shielding a politician and his son from the CBI inquiry, for their alleged links to the drug trade. "Or else, I will be forced to take their names in the House," he warned, noting that the politician-drug traders nexus is giving bad name to each and every politician.

The Speaker, Mr Pratapsing Rane said that he cannot force the government to order a CBI inquiry into the matter; however, as an experienced former chief minister he could advise the government.