On Friday evening, a pair of armed assailants opened fire on Shrinivas Nayak, the Managing Director of the Casino Pride Group, with three shots fired at him, while his bodyguard, who pursued the attackers, fired three shots in return. The attack took place at the main entrance of the Neo Majestic Hotel and Casino, where the Group has its offices, and the assailants, who were waiting for Nayak to leave for the day, promptly recognised him as he approached his car and fired at him. Fortunately for him, neither he nor his bodyguard was injured in the incident, and both escaped unhurt.
The incident, however, has left a whole lot of unanswered questions, some of which can be answered only once the assailants are apprehended, while the others demand that the state police and the security establishment answer for. One needs to remember that this attack took place in what is an otherwise a busy area. The hotel itself is located along the busy national highway connecting Panaji with the northern parts of the State and beyond, and the hotel lobby is usually crowded with guests, especially on a Friday evening, the start of the weekend.
More than that, however, the attack took place right opposite the Porvorim police station, a building that also hosts the offices of the North Goa Superintendent of Police, besides several government buildings in the vicinity. The attackers appeared to be well prepared. They studied the timing of his movements, knew how to recognise their target, and also arrived at the scene in time to execute their plan. The question then is: How did no one pick up on their plan until they executed it?
They had visited the hotel several times before committing the attack and were caught on the hotel CCTV cameras, but that escaped the attention of those monitoring the security cameras, meaning their presence didn’t raise any red flags until after the attack.
Nayak himself, in comments made to the media, said that he knows little about who might have ordered the attack or what their motives might be. It is still unknown whether this attack was meant to take him out or only meant to be a warning by his yet unknown enemies or rivals that they can get to him if they want to.
The casino business is a dangerous one, especially if one considers the number of businessmen who want a share of the spoils that the industry reportedly generates. The motive behind this attack is likely an attempt by business rivals to settle a score -- not unlike how, in the days when the mafia was at its height, rival mafiosos would every once in a while go to war against each other in a bid to gain an upper hand over the businesses and territories they control.
If this is indeed true, it means that the ‘mafia’ has made its presence felt in the State. For long, this State has worried about the role that the drug mafia plays in the State and whether such mafia would degenerate into violence. That has now happened, but instead in something relating to the casino industry.
The Goa Police will need to step up its game in the form of keeping tabs on the people behind the high-stakes industries in the state. This includes keeping tabs on politicians who run the State, who they otherwise are nothing but obsequious towards, because who’s to say there isn’t a political hand in the hit job on Nayak?
