PANAJI
A police head constable allegedly drove a tinted SUV dangerously close to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's convoy late Thursday night. Two days later, no FIR has been registered, no drunken-driving charge has been invoked and, according to police sources, no breathalyser test was conducted on the driver despite indications that he may have been intoxicated.
The episode, which unfolded at Amona, has triggered questions within the police establishment as well as the Chief Minister's Office over how an incident involving a possible security breach and an allegedly drunken police officer was reduced to a minor obstruction case.
The driver has been identified as Head Constable Samir Fadte. Sources familiar with the matter said the tinted Mahindra SUV came alarmingly close to the CM’s convoy during a late-night movement, prompting immediate concern among security personnel accompanying him.
No collision occurred even as sources said the driver was trying to overtake the convoy. Yet officials now appear to be focusing less on what happened on the road than on what happened afterwards.
Sources said senior officers were forced to seek explanations after details of the incident surfaced publicly on Saturday, with questions being raised over why police failed to invoke provisions relating to drunken driving or investigate whether the convoy of a protected person had been endangered.
Particular attention has centred on the absence of alcohol testing. The occupants were instead booked for allegedly obstructing a public way and later allowed to leave.
The department has been tight-lipped about why the matter has not been converted into an FIR. “We detained the five persons, including Fadte, for obstruction of a public road using a vehicle,” was the justification by an officer at the police station.
A departmental inquiry has, however, been ordered, with Fadte’s suspension likely.
The controversy has also brought back attention to Fadte's disciplinary history.
In 2024, he was among police personnel booked in connection with the assault of a fast-food stall owner at Marcel, an incident captured on video that led to arrests and suspension proceedings. The accused were soon released on bail.
Two years earlier, he was suspended after an FIR was registered over an alleged assault on fellow police officer PSI Julio Diniz following a dispute in the Merces scrapyard area. Diniz also faced action in the case.
