Foreign tourists looted at gunpoint in Goa

PANAJI - More than 24 hours after two foreign tourists, including a woman, and a local resident were looted at gunpoint in Goa’s popular tourist hub Calangute, police said they are yet to nab the culprits.

Two foreigners Imyigo Ardanaz (Spain) and Petra Artiz (Hungary) and the local Karen Roach were returning home from a bar on a motorcycle when two unidentified people robbed them at gun point after chasing them for a distance in the wee hours of Wednesday.

“This is the first time that such a robbery has been attempted. We are working on the case. We have not arrested anyone yet,” district superintendent Arvind Gawas told IANS Thursday.

He said at least one of the gunmen appeared to be a local because he spoke in Konkani, a popularly spoken Goan language.

In their complaint registered with the Calangute police station, the trio have said that the duo had threatened them with a gun and said they would kill them if the matter was reported to the police.

Roach has said in her complaint that they were not carrying much at the time of the robbery and that the amount stolen was about Rs.10,000.

“We were scared for our life. We did not even see how much money we handed over,” she said.

Robberies at gun-point along the coastal belt, which is popular with tourists because of the night hot spots, could prove to be a dampener even as Goa gears to welcome tourists when the tourist season begins in a couple of months.

The state has gained notoriety in recent times following high profile crimes, including rapes of foreign women, and slip-shod police investigations.