MARGAO
The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Margao, on Thursday directed the Maina-Curtorim police inspector to remain present in court concerning an application filed by the investigating officer seeking permission to conduct further investigations in the Chandor double tracking case.
When the application came up for hearing, the CJM sought the presence of the Maina Curtorim police station in-charge to answer queries on the application seeking permission to carry out further investigations in the case.
Earlier this year, in January, the Maina Curtorim police had filed an application before the JMFC, Margao, requesting permission to carry out additional investigations and submit a detailed report to the court.
The police application had evoked objections from the activists charged in the case in connection with the November 1, 2024, incident wherein thousands of people joined a midnight vigil on the intervening night of November 1–2, 2020, protesting the double tracking project and opposing the transformation of Goa into a coal hub.
In the application filed before the JMFC, Margao, the Maina-Curtorim police had contended that the then Police Inspector of Maina-Curtorim Police Station, along with PIs and staff of other concerned police stations, had reported for bandobast duty to control law and order at the Chandor outpost.
It was pointed out in the application that inadvertently, the station diary extracts of deputing the PIs and the staff of the concerned police stations remained to be collected during the investigation. “The station diary extracts are essential to present the truth of the presence of the complainant and witnesses at the time of commission of the crime,” the application stated.
The police further noted that statements from several Salcete Joint Mamlatdars, including Raghuraj Faldessai, Dattaraj K Gauns Dessai, and Gaurav S Gaonkar, had yet to be recorded. The application stressed that the eyewitness testimonies of these officials were material and essential for the court to properly evaluate the facts of the case.
The application stated: “Investigation in the case is just and necessary in order to bring the true facts of the case before the Court, which is the goal of a criminal trial.”
The activists who were charged by the Maina-Curtorim police include Abhijit Prabhudesai, Freddy Travasso, Vikas Bhagat, John Douglas Coutinho, Diana Tavares, Creson Antao, Viriato Fernandes, Royla Fernandes and Sabita Mascarenhas.
