assault to arson
Siddharth Gawa' brother overtakes Arjun Hanchimani mining truck
Hanchimani and some persons confront Siddharth Gawas at his showroom and assaulted him
Incident angers locals who along with Siddharth lodge a police complaint
Cops go on the lookout of Hanchimani and his cohorts
Locals get news that Hanchimani and Co plan to attack locals and in turn set their houses and properties on fire
Five houses damaged, scrap yard set on fire at Usgao-Dharbandora An incident of overtaking spills in to assault and arson
Overtaking incident was the spark that led to assault
THE GOAN NETWORK
PONDA
A group of villagers from Usgao on Saturday torched three houses and a scrap yard, while also damaging two houses, two shops and two two-wheelers, after a youth from the locality was allegedly assaulted by some persons associated with a scrap yard.
Fire station personnel informed The Goan that a scrap yard from Pratapnagar-Dharbandora was set on fire, while a shop at Tisk-Usgao was also set ablaze.
“We got two calls related to this incident. Our staff rushed to both sites and doused the fire,” a fire personnel told The Goan.
According to reports, one Sidharth Gawas was allegedly assaulted by one Arjun Hanchimani.
Outraged over the assault, a group of irate locals damaged the property belonging to Hanchimani and other assailants. They were absconding from the vicinity till late evening as people and police were searching for them.
“The incident was sparked off over an issue of overtaking a vehicle. The victim's brother had overtaken the mining truck of Hanchimani. Later, Hanchimani and some persons confronted Siddharth Gawas at his showroom and allegedly assaulted him. This incident angered the people,” sources told The Goan.
Hundreds of people supporting Siddharth Gawas then went to the Ponda police station, demanding the arrest of assailants. They later dispersed as a police team went in search of the accused. Till late evening, the villagers were also on the lookout of the assailants.
The situation turned tense in Usgao on Saturday night, after police received information that the assailants were planning to retaliate and target the locals.
Meanwhile, those persons from Hanchimani's group, whose houses and other properties were damaged in the incident, lodged their complaints with Ponda police and had also demanded police protection fearing a further attack from the agitated locals.
