MAPUSA
All the advocates in the State have decided to march to the Crime Branch and hold a peaceful protest on Tuesday after Goa Police failed to arrest the cop involved in allegedly assaulting an advocate.
The advocates who were on a protest against the dastardly attack against their colleague by a man in uniform had deferred the protest by a day as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was arriving in the State on Sunday.
“We had given the police time till 6.30 pm Monday to arrest the main culprit involved in the attack. Since the arrest has not taken place, all the advocates from Goa will go to the Crime Branch office at 11 am on December 13 and hold a peaceful dharna. We want the government to suspend the culprit and carry out proper investigation in the case,” said Paresh Rao, President of North Goa District Advocates Association (NGDAA).
The advocates’ forum across the State have condemned the attack on their advocate colleague and demanded the arrest and suspension of the culprits involved in the assault.
The NGDAA chief was addressing a news conference along with other colleagues outside the Mapusa court on Monday evening.
Speaking further, Rao said the victim Gajanan Sawant is one of the most sober advocates and has impeccable character. He said Sawant was beaten up so badly that doctors attending to him reported that had he not moved around after suffering the trauma he may have not survived the attack.
Adv Vinayak Parab said despite registering the case under Section 307 of the IPC, the police are yet to arrest the main cop who is responsible for the attack.
“They are protecting him. If the same offence was registered against a common man, he would have been in custody by now,” Parab said.
He said the main culprit has acted with criminal intent and committed the offence like a typical goon.
Adv Shashank Narvekar said the trend of protecting officers who commit offence was not good.
“The particular officer involved in the assault is a history sheeter. There are a lot of complaints against him. He has also been suspended earlier,” Narvekar said.
He said the trend of calling people to the police station in order to settle cases should be stopped.
“Innocent citizens are threatened and harassed and forced to settle cases at police stations. This should not happen,” he said.
He appealed to all the advocates and people to attend the protest at the crime branch on Tuesday.
“A message should go to the police and the home department that such things will not be tolerated,” he said.
