VALIANT ACT BY LOCALS OF BAGA AS HARYANA TOURIST FIRES SHOTS TO FRIGHTEN THE LOCAL GOANS

PANJIM: Three tourists from Haryana were injured in a violent altercation with local residents who retaliated after one of them fired gun shots in the air at Baga on Saturday. The locals acted well in defence of their locality and fellow Goans said Sudesh a Goan who was out for a picnic at Baga. 

Anjuna PI Manjunath Desai who is holding charge of Calangute police station said that five tourists holidaying in Goa, were on their way from Panjim to Baga by car. On the way, three of them stopped along the Baga bridge and began clicking photographs of some local residents without their consent.

This led to an argument between the angered locals and the three tourists. Finding themselves in a tight spot, one of them telephoned his friends who were in the car at the other end of the bridge.

The two rushed to help their friends and heated arguments ensued, even as the crowd increased in size. Fearing the angry crowd, who threatened to pelt stones at the tourists, one of them pulled out his revolver and fired it in the air apparently to frighten the locals, the police said. Before the locals could retaliate, the five drove away only to be chased by the locals. Even as the Haryana tourists drove fast through some narrow roads, they were ultimately caught by the locals. Fearing for their lives, the driver and the one who had fired the shots in the air, fled from the scene. The three others were attacked by the locals and their Haryana-registered car was also damaged, the police said.

When the police rushed to the spot, they discovered that the three tourists had sustained injuries. They were rushed to the Goa Medical College (GMC) and hospital. The police had not registered the case till midnight. An official from the Calangute police station said it would "take some time", adding that the three had been discharged from the hospital.