PANAJI: Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginald Lourenco, St Cruz MLA Tony Fernandes, and Tivim MLA Nilkanth Halarnkar along with a host of other Congress party members on Wednesday confronted the office of the Director General of Police (DGP) Dr Muktesh Chander over the seizure of large amounts of ketamine at Pissurlem by the DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence).
Seeking to know what action the police force in the state would be taking to curb the drug menace, the team had a half-an-hour long discussion with the DGP.
Adv Yatish Naik asked the DGP why it was necessary for a national agency to come to Goa to carry out raids and why the local police could not resolve the drug menace in the state. He also sought to know why the source of these drugs entering the state could not be traced, to which the DGP responded that it was impossible to check each and every truck that entered Goa.
MLA Michael Lobo's comments that the local police were involved in the drug trade were also brought to the fore, and the DGP was asked why an investigation was not carried out in this regard. The DGP said that no names of police that were involved had so far been given to him, and when an investigation was carried out, no police were found to be connected to the drug nexus.
When asked what action would be taken if any police were indeed found guilty, Dr Chander told the delegation that strictest action would be taken, including dismissal of the officers involved.
Lourenco also mentioned that two restaurants namely, Curlies and Shiva Valley in Anjuna are popularly believed to be involved in the drug trade and said some raid needs to be carried out to curb this menace at the earliest, while Fernandes said that he was concerned about Goan youth which was why something had to be done at the earliest.
"Lots of parents are losing their children to drugs which is the biggest reason to take stock of the situation at the earliest," said Fernandes. Lourenco said that he would bring up the drug menace in the upcoming Monsoon Assembly session.
When asked several times what the Police Department was doing by way of curbing the drug problem, the DGP said that during his tenure as DGP, a lot more had been done to curb the problem than during the term of any of his predecessors.
He also noted down important points raised by the MLAs concerning the drug trade in the state and said he would take action at the earliest. Lourenco pushed for further action to be taken within at least the next 48 hours. He also said that he, along with other party members would personally assist the DGP in any operation the DGP intended to carry out in connection with the drug trade.
