Kamat slammed for failure to rein in drug mafia

PANAJI - Legislators across the spectrum Thursday slammed Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat for his failure to rein in the drug mafia suspected to be linked to the police.

During a discussion in the assembly, ruling Congress legislator Agnelo Fernandes said police officers in Goa were fighting wars on behalf of the drug mafia in the coastal parts of the state.

“Drug dealers are using the police to fight their battles in Goa. There are several instances where policemen have bashed up drug dealers on instructions from rivals in the drug trade,” Fernandes said.

Fernandes is a legislator from the Calangute constituency notorious for the easy availability of drugs.

Former finance minister and senior Congress leader Dayanand Narvekar said that police were not in a position to ensure security of legislators in beach villages like Anjuna, which were known narcotics hubs.

“Colleges and government properties all across Goa are being used to smoke drugs after work hours,” Narvekar said, castigating the police and the home ministry for doing nothing to rein in the drug mafia in Goa.

Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) legislator Dayanand Mandrekar said instances of police planting drugs on innocent people were on the upswing.

“The police-drug mafia nexus has to be probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and busted,” he said.

Kamat is holding charge of the home ministry, after the minister concerned, Ravi Naik, reported sick a week ago.