CANACONA
In a tragic incident, two pump attendants died after they had gone to remove a dead turtle from a well at the Gulem Petrol Pump in Canacona late Friday evening.
Shock soon turned to anger as a large crowd gathered at the site and thrashed the pump manager, while damaging property at the petrol pump office. They refused to allow police to claim the two bodies and demanded the presence of the manager and owner of the petrol station at the site.
The crowd refused to leave the site and did not allow the police to take the bodies of Nomi B Gaonkar (43) of Gulem-Canacona and Barkelo N Gaonkar (40) of Gokuldem-Quepem.
FATAL DESCENT
The incident took place when a turtle was found dead in the well at the petrol pump.
A little after 6 pm, two pump attendants were asked to assist in the removal of the dead turtle from the well. After attempts to lower a bucket and pull the dead turtle from the well had failed, Nomi descended into the well, but did not come up for quite some time.
The other attendant, Barkelo Gaonkar, had moved away from the well at the time and on realising that Nomi had not come out of the well, reportedly informed the manager.
Barkelo then descended into the well in order to help Nomi.
It is alleged that the manager and owner of the petrol pump were seated in the office and did not realise the gravity of the situation, till other pump attendants came running to them and stated Nomi and Barkelo had not come out from the well.
According to locals, the well, which is fitted with a pump, is narrow in width and had only knee-deep water, making it impossible for anyone to drown.
The Canacona police and Canacona Fire Services were then alerted and both teams rushed to the site.
News of the two missing men spread in the area and a large crowd gathered at the site. The crowd became agitated as fuel continued to be dispensed to vehicles at the petrol pump, even as efforts were being made to pull out the two men from the well.
Two firefighters with proper gear went down the well but were swiftly pulled up after both complained of breathing difficulty due to lack of oxygen.
Later, other firefighters lowered a hook and retrieved the bodies of the two pump attendants.
RAMPAGE, ASSAULT
As the bodies were pulled up, the large crowd became furious and went on a rampage, reportedly thrashing the manager, while the pump owner remained inside the cabin. The irate crowd then targeted the pump office by smashing the windowpanes.
On noticing the mob damaging property, the police and firefighters moved the manager and owner in a police jeep and took them to the police station.
On realising the manager and owner of the petrol pump had gone missing, the crowd got even more agitated and demanded the presence of both at the petrol pump.
Canacona PI Chandrakant Gawas and a strong police force also went to the site in a bid to pacify the crowd.
With the crowd in no mood to listen to the police, Canacona Municipal Councillor Simon Rebello, Nandip Bhagat and others also tried to pacify the crowd, but their attempts too were futile.
Cuncolim PI Diogo Gracias and a police team also rushed to the petrol pump, but the crowd refused to move from the site and did not allow the police to take possession of the two bodies for an autopsy.
Canacona Deputy Collector Ramesh Gaonkar and the Canacona Mamlatdar also went to the site in a further bid to pacify the crowd.
Later at night, sources said more people from Gokuldem, the native place of the deceased petrol pump attendant Barkelo Gaonkar, were on their way to the petrol pump.
