News Analysis India

Tag: Goa Police

  • Goa: 4 Labourers Killed, 5 Injured As Bus Rams Into Roadside Shanties |

    New Delhi: The tragic incident took place at an industrial estate in the South Goa district after a private bus rammed into two roadside shanties which caused the death of Four labourers and five others were critically injured, police said.

    The accident took place at around 11.30 pm on Saturday when labourers were sleeping in the shanties, all the labourers were engaged in road construction work, police said, PTI reported.

    Deputy Superintendent of Police Santosh Desai said the bus driver’s medical examination confirmed he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident and police have taken him into custody for interrogation.

    The bus driver was identified as Bharat Govekar, a resident of the nearby Cartolim village.

    A labourer declared that the bus driver threatened the other labourers present at the site to kill them if they complained to anyone about the incident, a police official said.

    “Four labourers died on the spot while five were critically injured and admitted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital,” he said.

     The police informed that the labourers were employed by a contractor.

    “After the incident, the bus driver threatened to kill us if we complained to anyone. The driver was under the influence of alcohol,” claimed Rupender Kumar Mathur, whose uncle Ramesh Mathur and brother Anil Mathur were among those killed in the incident.

    He also claimed that due delay in medical help at the accident place caused a delay in taking the victims to the District Hospital in Margao.

    Rupender Mathur also said he was staying in one of the accident-affected shanties but at the time of the incident, he had come out to attend a mobile phone call.

  • Sonali Phogat case: Goa police arrest one more drug peddler

    By PTI

    PANAJI: The Goa Police have arrested one more drug peddler in connection with the case of alleged murder of BJP leader Sonali Phogat, an official said on Sunday.

    With this, five people have so far been arrested in the case.

    Phogat, a former Tik Tok star and contestant on the reality show “Big Boss”, died on August 23, a day after arrival in Goa.

    On Saturday night, the Anjuna police in North Goa district arrested drug peddler Rama alias Ramadas Mandrekar for allegedly supplying drugs to another peddler Dattaprasad Gaonkar, who is already in custody in connection with the case, the official said.

    Gaonkar had allegedly supplied drugs to two other accused Sudhir Sagwan and Sukhwinder Singh, who accompanied Phogat on the Goa trip, police earlier said.

    PANAJI: The Goa Police have arrested one more drug peddler in connection with the case of alleged murder of BJP leader Sonali Phogat, an official said on Sunday.

    With this, five people have so far been arrested in the case.

    Phogat, a former Tik Tok star and contestant on the reality show “Big Boss”, died on August 23, a day after arrival in Goa.

    On Saturday night, the Anjuna police in North Goa district arrested drug peddler Rama alias Ramadas Mandrekar for allegedly supplying drugs to another peddler Dattaprasad Gaonkar, who is already in custody in connection with the case, the official said.

    Gaonkar had allegedly supplied drugs to two other accused Sudhir Sagwan and Sukhwinder Singh, who accompanied Phogat on the Goa trip, police earlier said.

  • Prostitution racket busted in Goa: TV actor among three rescued, one arrested

    By ANI

    PANAJI: The Goa Crime Branch on Friday said it has arrested a Hyderabad-based man and rescued three women, including a television actress, after busting a prostitution racket at Sangolda village near Panaji.

    The arrested man has been identified as Hafiz Syed Bilal, stated a Press release issued by the Crime Branch.

    Acting on a tipoff, the officials of the crime branch laid a trap to arrest Bilal after they received information about the prostitution racket.

    After verifying the details, the officials asked Bilal to deliver three girls to a hotel for a deal of Rs 50,000. Later the police arrested him when he arrived on March 17 along with the three women.

    During interrogation, Bilal confessed to the crime of running the prostitution racket and supplying girls to customers in posh hotels of Panaji.

    The three women are from Hyderabad, Jharkhand and Thane district’s Virar and they are aged between 30 to 37 years.

    The Crime Branch has registered a case under sections 370 (3) (Trafficking of persons), 370 (A) (2) (Trafficking of persons using force or any other of coercion) and Section 4 (Earnings through prostitution), 5 (procures or induces any person for the purpose of prostitution) and 7 of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.

  • Goa Police bust fake call centre, 13 held for duping US residents

    By IANS

    PANAJI: The Goa Police on Wednesday busted an illegal call centre operating from the beach village of Morjim in North Goa, whose staff would pose as US government agents and would threaten US nationals with blocking their social security numbers, while later “settling” the issue by paying of fines which were then converted into Bitcoins.

    In an official statement, the Crime Branch of the Goa Police said that 13 persons from Mumbai and Gujarat have been accused in connection with the racket.

    “Upon analysis of evidence and preliminary interrogation, it is found that they were defrauding American nationals by impersonating US govt agents and telling them that their Social Security Numbers (SSN) were going to be blocked as they were found in criminal investigation,” the statement said.

    “The victims were then coerced to settle the matter by paying fines in the form of Cash vouchers which were then converted to Bitcoin and used by the fraudsters,” it also added.

    The raid was conducted by officials of the Crime Branch and the Cyber Cell of the state police at the Eden Hotel in Morjim beach village, from where the call centre was operating.

    “Upon raid, 13 persons including the mastermind were apprehended and seizure of electronic devices including 12 computers and laptops was made,” the statement also said.

  • Goa police awaiting Russian consulate’s nod for autopsy of 24-year-old actress

    By PTI

    PANAJI: The Goa police are waiting for the Russian Consulate’s nod to conduct postmortem of the body of a 24-year-old Russian actress, who was found dead in her apartment in North Goa district last week, an official said on Monday.

    Alexandra Djavi, who acted in some Tamil movies including “Kanchana 3”, was found hanging in her rented flat in Siolim village of North Goa on Friday.

    A senior police official said the body was kept in a mortuary while they were waiting for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Russian Consulate to conduct the autopsy.

    The police have already started an investigation into the case and recorded the statement of her boyfriend, he said.

    ​ALSO READ | Russian women death: ‘No foul play involved’, says Goa police

    The woman’s boyfriend, who was living with her in the same apartment, had gone out when she died.

    Meanwhile, advocate Vikram Varma, the Goa representative of the Russian Consulate in Mumbai, urged the police to conduct a probe into the “possible role” of a Chennai-based photographer into the woman’s death.

    The deceased had filed a complaint of sexual harassment against the photographer in Chennai in 2019, he said.

    “I was informed that the woman had been hounded and blackmailed by a person in Chennai.

    After a preliminary inquiry, the Chennai police had found enough evidence to register an FIR and subsequently arrest him,” he said.

    Varma said the case (of the woman’s death) “may have other facets which are not clearly visible at this stage”.

    The Russian Consulate was monitoring the case and would provide all required information and assistance to the Goa police, he added.

  • Russian women death: ‘No foul play involved’, says Goa police

    By ANI

    PANAJI: After the death of two Russian women in Goa’s Siolim village in separate incidents, the local police said prima facie, no foul play is involved in the two cases.

    “We are not suspecting any foul play as of now. However, we will wait for statements from the Russian representatives from the embassy and the final decision on the cause of death by the medico-legal examination,” North Goa Superintendent of Police (SP) Shobhit Saksena told ANI.

    He further informed that the post mortem of the two deceased Alexandra Ri Djavi (24) and Ekaterina Titova (34) will be conducted after the Russian embassy appoints representatives in the two separate cases of death reported on Thursday and Friday.

    “In both cases, we are following legal procedure. We have written to the embassy to appoint a representative and inquest proceeding in the meantime. Once the representative is assigned, further medico-legal formalities such as post mortem examination will be conducted,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Advocate for the Russian consulate in Mumbai and Goa, Vikram Varma said that Djavi, one of the deceased had registered an FIR with Chennai police in 2019 over alleged blackmailing for sexual favours. “Alexandra Ri Djavi had been blackmailed in 2019 for sexual favours. After preliminary enquiry, the Chennai police had registered an FIR,” said Varma.

    He also said that officers, diplomats from the Russian consulate are expected to be visiting Goa in September to look into the matter. The bodies of the two women have been kept safely in morgue of Goa Medical College, Varma added.

    Anjuna police station had visited the two sites of incidents in Siolim.

    According to Police Sub Inspector Mahesh G Kerkar, Djavi was found hanging in her rented room at Gublawado, Oxel Siolim, Bardez Goa on August 19 and her fiance who returned from Morjim found the door locked.

    Meanwhile, Titova was found lying dead in her bedroom on Friday.

  • Goa: Police to remove excess wedding guests from venues as COVID curbs kick in

    By PTI
    PANAJI: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said the police will not hesitate to remove wedding guests from venues if their number crosses the permissible limit of 50.

    Speaking to reporters after holding a virtual meet with the police force, the Chief Minister said he has sought the complete involvement of the police in enforcing the COVID-19 protocols to contain the viral spread in the state.

    The police force will crack down on violators during religious events and weddings, he said.

    “We have allowed weddings to be held with a maximum of 50 people.

    If the crowd limit exceeds, a fine will be imposed on the owner of the venue,” Sawant said, adding that the police will also patrol the area near the wedding venue, if needed.

    If the number of guests exceed the permissible limit, the police will get them out of the premises, he said.

    “We can prevent the spread of coronavirus without imposing lockdown if the police discharge their duties effectively to implement the COVID-19 protocol and people follow the norms,” the chief minister said.

    Taking into account the rise in infections, temple fairs, church feasts and other religious events have been cancelled, while people can offer prayers from home, he added.