the goan I network
MARGAO
The South Goa Superintendent of Police, Arvind Gawas, on Monday evening placed under suspension two police constables, including a driver, for allegedly manhandling a photojournalist, Soiru Komarpant, at the Margao KTC bus stand earlier in the day.
While placing the police driver Ujesh U Naik and police constable Mahendra M Gosavi under suspension, the district police chief has appointed PI Santosh Desai, in-charge of Quepem police station, to probe the incident.
The two suspended policemen have been asked to report at the district police headquarters.
The suspension of the two policemen comes hours after they were accused by the photojournalist of manhandling him and pushing him into a police jeep by holding his
collar.
The incident occurred around noon when Komarpant had descended on the KTC bus stand to carry out an official assignment when he came across a brawl between a lady senior citizen and a group of tourists.
As Komarpant decided to click photos of the brawl, he was questioned by the two policemen as to why he was taking the photographs of the incident. “I replied saying I am a journalist, but the duo did not pay heed to my claim. I tried to explain to them saying that they can talk to the SP, South, but they held me by my collar and dragged me into the police van before taking me to the Fatorda police station,” he narrated.
The worst was yet to come for the photojournalist. During a meeting with the Fatorda police station in-charge, PI Kapil Nayak, Komarpant decided to delete the photos of the brawl.
He, however, realized to his shock and surprise that a complaint was lodged against him by the tourists stating that he had clicked the photo of their minor children, indicating police hand behind the complaint.
A delegation of South Goa journalists later called on the district police chief, SP Arvind Gawas, with a plea for a detailed probe into the incident and punishment for the erring policemen.
They expressed surprise how the policemen at the Fatorda police station could get the tourists to lodge a complaint against the photojournalist for clicking the photos when these were never used.
After giving the journalists a patient hearing, SP Gawas promised to order a probe into the incident, which later culminated in the suspension of the police driver and the constable.
