OLD GOA
Burglars have begun targetting churches across the State and five churches have been burgled in the last eight months.
Burglars broke into the office of the Se Cathedral at Old Goa on November 8, 2020, and stole cash of Rs 80,000 from the church office. On December 11, 2020, burglars broke into the office of the St Jerome Church at Mapusa and stole cash of Rs 40,000 from the church office.
In both cases, burglars cut iron grills on the windows to enter the offices of both churches in the wee hours and in both burglaries, the persons who entered the premises appeared to be slim as the passages to pass through the grills were very narrow.
Burglars then broke into the St Andrew Church office in Vasco and decamped with cash of about Rs 80,000 in the wee hours of December 20, 2020.
Burglaries have now been reported at the churches in Panaji and Santa Cruz in the wee hours of Thursday.
St Cruz MLA, former MLA call for early breakthrough
OLD GOA:
Condemning the Santa Cruz church burglary, local MLA Tony Fernandes informed that he has already issued directions to the police to crack the case as there are many clues to establish the identity of the culprit.
“I have spoken to the police authorities, including the DySP, and issued directions to crack the case as early as possible,” Fernandes told The Goan.
“Currently there are 12 policemen posted on the job and I have high hopes that the police would use their intelligence to crack the case as there are many clues available,” he stated.
“No sooner I got a call from the parish priest, I immediately sent my man to the Santa Cruz police outpost and also informed the Old Goa police to send a team to investigate,” Fernandes informed and condemned the incident of the church being targeted for burglary. “It is a highly deplorable incident and I condemn the same,” he said.
Former MLA Victor Gonsalves, who was one of the first persons to rush to the church upon receiving Fr Pinheiro’s call, informed The Goan that all the clues, including the CCTV footage, have been provided to the Old Goa police.
“There are enough clues to identify the culprit and I am hopeful that the case is cracked at the earliest,” Gonsalves hoped.
Meanwhile, both the St Cruz MLA Tony Fernandes and former MLA Victor Gonsalves have raised suspicion that burglaries at both churches in Panaji and Santa Cruz could be related and have urged the police to work in that direction.
