Arrest Goa home minister’s son for drug links: Pacheco

PANAJI - Goa Home Minister Ravi Naik’s son should be arrested and his alleged links to drug trade in the state should be probed thoroughly, former tourism minister Mickky Pacheco demanded Wednesday.

Pacheco, who was arrested July 8 in connection with the suspicious death of his alleged girlfriend, has also charged Naik, a Congress leader, with specifically targeting Christian politicians.

“The international media has said that the home minister’s son (Roy) is involved. Why is the minister’s son not arrested?” Pacheco asked.

Roy has been named by an Israeli newspaper as having links to the Israeli drug mafia in Goa. The opposition has also demanded Roy’s arrest and a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the drug trade rampant in Goa.

The Nationalist Congress party (NCP) legislator has also said that he was victimized by the home minister and other cabinet colleagues for demanding a CBI probe in the police-politician-drug mafia nexus and a multi-crore rupee excise scam, in which Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, as minister for finance, has been grilled by the opposition in the assembly over the last two sessions.

“I have raised a voice against the drug nexus and the excise scam. I made a mention to the chief minister to send the case to the CBI… I feel that only minority people (are) being harassed here. The same home minister used to harass minority MLAs (legislator),” said Pacheco, reeling out names of Christian legislators who were allegedly victimized in the past by Naik.

Nearly a dozen of the 40 members of the Goa legislative assembly are Christian.