PANAJI
The Opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday demanded the sacking of Director General of Police Jaspal Singh for his alleged overreach in the Assagao house demolition case.
The Congress said a "wrong precedent" will be set if the matter is not dealt with sternly. Addressing a press conference Leader of Opposition, Yuri Alemao, said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant should immediately write to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to suspend the concerned officials.
Alemao was flanked by GPCC president Amit Patkar and the two party MLAs -- Carlos Alvares Ferreira and Altone D'Costa.
Meanwhile, AAP also separately issued a statement and accused the State government of making "scapegoats" of the local police officials and suspending them. The AAP also alleged that CM has let the IPS and IAS lobby "take control over the State's administration".
Will raise issue in Parliament: Viriato
South Goa MP, Viriato Fernandes, joined the chorus against the DGP and said he will be forced to raise the issue in Parliament if the State administration fails to take appropriate action.
Fernandes said, the matter is "very serious" and demands quick and stringent action from the State government, failing which he will raise the matter in the Lok Sabha.
CM dodges queries on DGP's role
After quick action on the alleged illegal demolition of the Assagao house, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s stoic silence on the allegations against DGP Jaspal Singh has sparked an outcry among the opposition.
During a State event on Friday, the CM was repeatedly questioned by journalists about the revelations from the inquiry report. However, he dodged the questions. DGP Jaspal Singh also remained tight-lipped, only stating that he had asked his PRO, SP Rahul Gupta, to address the issue.
At the subsequent press conference, Gupta stated that the unnamed and unsigned document was "premature". “There is one unnamed and unsigned document that was received today and has been covered by various media groups, levelling allegations against the senior officers. It is premature to conclude such an unverifiable document,” he said.
