PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said that 90 percent rape cases reported in Goa are committed by known persons as he appealed to the citizens to “not unnecessarily trust anyone.”
“In more than 90 percent rape cases, the accused are known to the victim. It has so happened that people have betrayed your trust… Don’t keep unnecessarily trusting anyone,” he said while addressing a police function at its GRP block in Altinho.
Sawant also sought public cooperation to reduce incidents of crime even as Goa’s crime detection rate is the highest in the country.
“Goa is a small State and people’s cooperation is highly appreciated so that crime is reduced. We have introduced a number of schemes like Know Your Neighbour and strengthened verification of tenants besides adopting other preventive measures to ensure citizens report any suspicious activity to the police,” Sawant, also the Home Minister, said.
“It is not the duty of police alone, but people should cooperate,” he added.
The CM’s reaction comes two months after he claimed that the crime rate has dropped and detection has seen a rise from the year 2019.
“During the last two years, due to Covid pandemic, many people migrated and they are returning because of the economic activity in the State. Many outsiders are involved in the crime in Goa,” he was quoted as saying.
While reiterating his instructions to the police to crack down on drug-related activities in the State, the CM on Thursday also urged teenagers and youngsters to stay away from easy money-making business proposals claiming “these are a trap to drag them into the drug trade.”
Meanwhile, Sawant lamented that although pharma and other companies in the State were doing business worth crores of rupees they were not spending even one per cent on CSR activities.
He asked such companies to undertake CSR activities under State government’s CSR initiative. He said companies are required to spend a minimum of 2 per cent of their net profit over the preceding three years as CSR.
100 two-wheelers were distributed to Goa police under the CSR activity, which will be branded with the Goa Police logo and fitted with the GPS tracking system.
