the goan I network
MARGAO
A day after he was arrested under preventive detention, general secretary of Gandhi Market Citizen Welfare Association Sheikh Riyaz has claimed that the Margao police had taken signatures of the complainants on a blank paper to foist a false case against him.
He also squarely blamed Minister Babu Ajgaonkar and another Minister behind the false case of extortion registered against him and his subsequent arrest under preventive detention.
Addressing the media along with his well wishers, Riyaz said while the Margao police has been prompt in registering a FIR against him based on a false complaint lodged by one Suresh, the police has not investigated into the separate complaints of extortion lodged against Mainnudin and the Ajgaonkar brothers. “The police have acted based on the pressure from Minister Babu Ajgaonkar. They are out to harass me and see that I move out of the Gandhi market. I fear that more harassment will come from the Ajgaonkar brothers in connivance with the Margao police,” he said, while asserting that such tactics will not deter him from working for the downtrodden and the poor.
Riyaz, who is a member of the Congress minority front, has made an appeal to the Congress leaders, including Margao MLA Digambar Kamat, MLA Luizinho Faleiro, GPCC chief Girish Chodankar and others, to take up the issue and ensure that Congress workers are not harassed by the ruling Ministers.
Riyaz said that he would continue to fight against the illegalities in the Gandhi market, including extortion of vendors by the influential people. “I will move the Margao Municipality highlighting the illegalities and encroachments that have mushroomed in the Gandhi market,” he said.
Dada Pir Karajji, who also addressed the media, reiterated that he and others had approached Riyaz after one Mainnudin demanded money from his father, Bashir Karajji. He claimed that police had obtained a signature from his father on a blank paper before arresting Riyaz on a false complaint.
