The Goa Congress unit had levied charges against the state’s BJP government, claiming that the BJP has made Goa into a drug destination.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar said that the state is emerging as in several drug cases. His statement comes on the backdrop of Goa-based hotelier, Gaurav Arya’s inquires by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in relation to an alleged money laundering case against the associates of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
This has further disrupted the state’s image on the national platform, as several drug angles are also being probed.
The Congress president further said that an investigation needs to be conducted into the death of Goa’s former DGP, Pranab Nanda, who passed away in Delhi last November following a cardiac arrest.
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He said, With Goa connection now emerging in most drug cases, an investigation needs to be done on the sudden death of former DGP Pranab Nanda last year and its likely connection to the BJP-drug mafia nexus.
“We demand that detailed investigation should be done of the sudden death of former DGP of Goa who died of cardiac arrest in Delhi in November last year immediately after landing in Delhi.”
He added, “He was a very efficient officer and was probing in various drug-related cases. He was fit and had no reason to get a severe cardiac arrest unless he had come under heavy pressure.”
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The Congress party has however not been a new entity when it comes to involvement in drug nexuses in the state. To recall, on August 2, 2010, the mother of Scarlett Keeling – the British teenager found naked and dead on the Anjuna beach in Goa – had deposed before the Children’s Court in Goa that Roy Naik – the younger son of the then Home Minister Ravi Naik – was among those who gave her daughter drugs. This had turned the entire thing into an international scandal and had resulted in the state’s then Congress government on the back-foot.
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Manohar Parrikar, the then opposition minister, during the assembly session, had demanded a CBI inquiry into these allegations, however, the motion was turned down.
However, after almost 10 years, Roy Naik finds himself in a secured position within the BJP after he was inducted into the ruling party on August 6, 2020.
In 2018, just two years ago, Roy was being probed by a special investigation team of Goa Police for his alleged involvement in the nexus between Goa Police officials and drug dealers.
The probe however remained unsettled with officials claiming that there wasn’t enough evidence to indict the former home minister or his son.
Political parties in the state are no new to involvement in drug-related cases, and as the blame game continues, the state continues to reel under the dark, with several illegal activities going unchecked by the state’s top-most authorities.
