MARGAO
Congress MLA Reginaldo Lourenco has urged Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to beef up security and surveillance around churches, temples, and mosques, besides religious structures and other monuments which may be the target of robbers and anti-social elements who may be trying to vitiate Goa’s cherished communal harmony.
Referring to the theft that took place in the early hours of December 20 at the St Andrew’s Church, Vasco, Reginaldo said it is only important to instruct the Goa police and other law-enforcement agencies, but also the ASI, to beef up security apparatus at the churches, temples and monuments and also UNESCO’s World Heritage site in Old Goa.
“In the past 43 days, the incident of robbery involving the church is the third to happen in Goa. The first one was the theft at the 16th century Se Cathedral the World Heritage site on the intervening night of November 7 and 8. The thieves fled with Rs 55,000 in cash and one unit of digital video recorder by breaking the windows and cutting the window grill from the office of the Se Cathedral,” he added.
Reginaldo said this was followed by the theft at St Jerome Church of Mapusa. Here, the burglars fled with Rs 40,000 from the cupboard after effecting entry by cutting window grills,” he said.
