PANAJI
The sudden transfer of Superintendent of Police (South Goa) Sunita Sawant late on Monday night, coincidentally hours after her cable to officers at police stations in her jurisdiction seeking intelligence inputs on members of right-wing organisation Bajrang Dal, continued to evoke strong reactions on Wednesday. However, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant ducked media queries on the matter.
Sawant refused to take queries on the senior police officer's transfer effected by his government and abruptly wound up his cabinet briefing on Wednesday when a journalist posed the question.
The South Goa SP's abrupt transfer, meanwhile, was slammed by Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president, Amit Patkar who said it was yet another glaring example of how the BJP-RSS ideology is interfering with the administration to propound the divisive agenda.
"The moment SP Sunita Sawant began collecting information about Bajrang Dal leaders in Goa, the government panicked and immediately transferred her. This clearly shows that BJP is not interested in governance but in shielding its ideological allies and suppressing officers who perform their duty with integrity," Patkar said.
He said, Goans will not tolerate this political interference in law enforcement and added that the BJP-RSS nexus has been exposed once again, proving that their priority is not governance but controlling the system for their divisive politics.
Vijai claims SP was 'biased'
Goa Forward Party Chief, Vijai Sardesai, has raised concerns about the recent transfer of South Goa Superintendent of Police (SP), Sunita Sawant, while alleging that she had become increasingly aligned with the ruling BJP’s ideology during her tenure as district police chief.
Sardesai claimed that Sawant had been "doing maska polishing" of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who also holds the Home portfolio. "The SP, South, has been suddenly transferred. According to me, she had become very saffron during her time in office," Sardesai said, adding that he believed she was no longer unbiased. "We have seen the other side of this SP. She was doing maska polishing of the CM. We don’t want to speak more since it is a departmental matter," he remarked.
When questioned about the new SP’s appointment, Sardesai stated that it made no difference to him who takes over, as he neither engages in corruption nor fears the police force.
He also expressed his concerns about the unpredictability of decisions under the current government. "Overnight decisions and unpredictable decisions have become the norm under the Pramod Sawant government," he said. He pointed to his own removal from the government by the Chief Minister and questioned why Congress leader Digambar Kamat had not been inducted into the Cabinet. "No one knows what lies in store for him or her. This is like a new disease plaguing the State," Sardesai added.
