One would have thought that the Goa police would have beenso down with shame and shock, for blatantly helping an alleged murderer tocover his tracks, that by now the PI should have been suspended, the Dy Spquestioned to see if he was fellow accomplice, the SP reprimanded and someaction taken for allowing this under their watch and the Director General ofPolice asked to explain what action is he taking for allowing a force tocompletely run amok.
We as journalists sometimes need to take tough calls. Shouldwe report a crime story, or go beyond by assisting the investigations on thebasis of facts we have dug out? The Goan has and will always choose the latter.But here too, we have a queer problem. Who do we assist? Do we assist thepolice that wants only one assistance “ That we stay out of this. Do we assistthe investigations of a police man who, instead of being the IO of the case,should actually be treated as an accused accomplice? When cops and criminalsare in bed together, who really is the cop and who is the criminal.
What we can do is much more though. We become theinvestigators and work along side genuine, well-meaning lawyers for whom thisisn’t a professional case. The Rita Almeida murder case is not important tosend Ubaldo Fernandes into the arms of the law. It assumes significance becausethis has the potential of becoming the template of a police criminal nexus.This template is far more dangerous that the police drug , mafia nexus prevalent.The Rita murder case is a template of innocent unsuspecting people becomingfatal victims with the assassin an ally of the supposed law protector. Thistemplate is the template of Anjuna. You extend it, it can become one of Bardezand then it grows. A criminal cop is not limited by the jurisdiction of hispolice station. He threatens witnesses and judicial officers, he beats upinnocents to death and then opens a security agency during the period ofsuspension and as the illustrious PI Karpe has displayed, keeps the murderweapon hidden after the accused has confessed to the crime, which again is notrecorded as per the evidence act. These officers are the real killers. And Goais getting killed.
