Goa NCP president booked for rioting, assault

PANAJI - Nationalist Congress Partys (NCP) Goa president Jose Phillip DSouza was booked by the police for assaulting a party legislator and former tourism minister Mickky Pacheco at a restaurant in Goa’s Vasco town, police said Wednesday.

A non-cognizable offence was also registered against Mickky, after DSouza accused him of bribing voters to vote against him in the forthcoming municipal elections.

DSouza has been booked for rioting, creating unlawful assembly and causing hurt in connection with the fight in a restaurant Tuesday night in Vasco, 35 km from here.

Mickky has also been booked under section 171 (E) for bribery, which is non-cognizable, a police spokesperson said.

On Tuesday, Mickky claimed that DSouza and his supporters had assaulted him without provocation, when he was dining at a restaurant with his friends. DSouzas supporters also damaged a car belonging to Pachecos friend, which was parked outside the hotel.

DSouza, on the other hand, alleged that Pacheco was in the town to distribute money to support candidates opposing his panel in the forthcoming municipal election.

Earlier in the day, the NCP top brass convened a meeting at which both DSouza and Mickky were asked for their side of the story.

The NCP has three legislators in the 40-member Goa legislative assembly and DSouza is also the leader of the partys legislative wing.