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Accused had iconic statues on ‘break-list’

Was Abade Faria statue located in the State capital the next target of accused Francisco Pereira?

the goan I networkrMARGAOr rHe reportedly told police that he had in the past tried to vandalise statues of national leaders and leaders who have made it to the history books. rDuring preliminary inquiries, the accused is alleged to have told the police he had in the past tried to vandalise the statue of Maratha king Chatrapati Shivaji at Famagudi. The accused is reported to have claimed that he tried to vandalise Shivaji’s statue too, but it did not break. He is believed to have said that he managed to climb the statue with the help of a rope, which he carried with him, but the statue simply did not break. rPolice are trying to find out whether he had in the past tried to vandalise the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Mapusa and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s statue. rSources in the police department said that the accused was apparently rushing with the desecrations during the monsoons since it was the best time to vandalise objects along roadsides. rrrCross found desecrated at PajifondrMARGAO: A cross was found desecrated at Pajifond at the slope near Peppers restaurant, but Margao police said the cross was vandalised by Francisco Pereira on the day when he had allegedly desecrated the cross of late PSI Simon Fernandes. The incident came to light late Saturday evening when the Pereira family had gone to offer prayers. Margao police officials rushed to the spot, but said rthe cross was desecrated by Francisco on the same day.rrrSnowden’s pic found in carrMARGAO: Francis Pereira, who was on Saturday arrested, may have had different opinions about Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Aam Aadmi national leader Arvind Kejriwal, but was a fan of Edward Snowden with his picture being found in his car.
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Church casts doubts, says lone arrest appears ‘scripted’

The Council for Social Justice and Peace CSJP, the social arm of the Church in Goa along with a like minded body, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) has cast aspersions on claims by Goa Police and State administration that the accused Francisco Pereira is alone responsible for desecrations across Goa.

The Goan Network
Published Jul 17, 2017, 12:53 AM IST
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the goan I networkrPANAJIrrThe CSJP and the CSSS which had jointly organised a fact-finding mission to visit areas ravaged by desecrations, said that the arrest appears ‘scripted’. They have demanded that a judicial commission be tasked with probing the cases of desecration. r“The team strongly feels that the arrest appears as a familiar script to similar crimes across the country to pacify the civil society and the affected communities and divert attention from the actual…

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