MARGAO
Taking serious cognizance of The Goan expose on how a Home Guard /traffic constable forced a traffic violator pay challan at a wine store at Colva during the weekend, the Goa police late Tuesday evening placed under suspension a head constable attached to the Colva police station.
The suspension of head constable Prashant Velip by district police Chief, SP Abhishek Dhania came after the department ordered a probe by Colva police station in-charge, PI Theron D’Costa.
Public Relations Officer Shivendu Bhushan (Superintendent of Police) confirmed that a preliminary inquiry had been initiated.
“A preliminary inquiry has been initiated into the matter. Appropriate action will be taken based on the report findings,” he told The Goan.
Sub-divisional Police Officer, Margao DySP Santosh Desai informed that the head constable has been placed under suspension by the SP, South after a probe conducted by the department. He said the preliminary inquiry has revealed that the head constable had allegedly asked the Home guard to collect the money from the wine store after the traffic violator paid the challan via G-Pay at the store.
In fact, a senior police officer had informed early Tuesday that a Home Guard and a police constable has come under the scanner of the department, after the department was left red-faced by the sordid episode during the weekend.
Left red faced after The Goan exposed how traffic violators were being told to pay the challan via G-Pay at the wine store near the Colva police station, the Colva police descended at the wine store on Tuesday morning and called the owner to the police station to record his statement.
Sources said the owner was advised by some public spirited citizens from Colva not to buckle under any pressure from the police, but to narrate the sequence of events that led the traffic violator pay the challan amounting to Rs 1000 via G-Pay.
Citizens in private, however, demanded that the Goa police should get to the bottom of the story, to unearth the facts whether the Home Guard acted on his own when he told the traffic violator to pay the challan at the wine store or was acting in connivance and with the full knowledge of the Men-in-Uniform.
“If the DGP is really interested in unearthing the true facts and to stem the rot in the department, he should find out and bring in public domain how many challans have been paid by traffic violators over the month at the nearby wine store”, the citizen demanded.
The citizen has warned the police higher-ups to see that the CCTV footage at the wine store is not tampered with by unscrupulous elements since the footage will give an insight about the sordid affair that took place on Saturday.
