BICHOLIM
Claiming that they had not used lathicharge on the protesting truck operators at Pale on Friday, the Bicholim police has maintained that they were forced to disperse a mob which was trying to overturn a vehicle carrying mining officials.
PI Ninad Deulkar informed reporters that the protesters were attempting to overturn the jeep of a mining company, while its officials were seated inside the jeep.
“A mob of around 100 people suddenly went towards the jeep (GA-04-C-4945) and tried to overturn the jeep. Realising the danger to human lives in the jeep, our police team ran towards the vehicle, else a tragedy could have taken place,” informed PI Deulkar.
“We had to disperse the mob in order to avoid any danger to human lives and hence, the claim made by the protesting truck operators that police had applied lathicharge on them is misleading,” he clarified.
In a related development, the mining company has filed a police complaint at the Bicholim police station, accusing over 100 persons of forming an unlawful assembly near a factory at Tarmatha-Surla.
The accused had pelted stones on nine trucks (GA-09-U-1356, GA-09-T-5238, GA-09-TU-0740, GA-09-W-3598, GA-09-U-3918, GA-09-U-3915, GA-09-U-0848, GA-09-U-4130 and GA-09-U- 4495), damaging the vehicles and also causing injury to their drivers. The trucks were carrying iron ore from Kodli to Amona mines, the police complaint stated.
The mining company further accused the protesters of wrongfully restraining the truck (GA-09-U-4495) and setting it ablaze, while also attempting to overturn a jeep (GA-04-C-4945) and attempting to assault officials seated inside the jeep.
PSI Suraj Canconkar is conducting further investigations under the guidance of PI Ninad Deulkar.
