The protest from fishermen took a violent turn in the capital city. It was reported earlier how fishermen faced criticism and that they have asked for the suspension of north Goa (in charge) SP, for ordering a lathi-charge on them. But as we all know that there is always an insight story which comes to light only when reported from all the angles of the issue. Many officers narrated of how agitators assaulted them, pelting stones and using filthy and abusive language at them. Here is the other side of the story what all actually happened before Lathi Charge incident. This is what policemen have said about the incident, who had responded to the orders of lathi-charge. Read here the other side of the story which may not conclude the readers of who was at fault but it will surely help to understand that who was not.
[su_expand more_text=”READ MORE” less_text=” ” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_style=”button” link_align=”center”] Every newspaper in Goa has reported about the high-handed lathi charge on agitating fishermen by the police. But there is this other side of the story of, the attack on police by the agitators which did not actually justified openly through media.
The whole incident was narrated by the police to Herald publication point to point. The constable narrated, “Agitators began to assault us even before we started the lathi charge. We kept quiet for a couple of hours in the evening. They showered us with a lot of filthy languages which we cannot repeat now.”
As per Police Inspector of Panjim Police Station, Siddhant Shirodkar, it was only after receiving orders from superiors and noticing that the uncontrolled crowd had begun to assault cops, that police started lathi charge.
In this incident, three of the police officers were injured in the scuffle and were admitted to Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), who sustained injuries. Many others also sustained minor injuries.
Read: Police Lathi Charged on the protesters when Fishermen’s agitation turned violent
Another officer said, “The police are always blamed for any kind of unrest. Why? What would we have done? The people who are talking now wanted us to take the beating quietly to maintain law and order.” He added that the decision to lathi charge was the correct one at the time. And if it had not happened, the agitation would have gone out of hand and it could have also led to damage to public property.
It is also reported that Police Inspector of Agassaim Police Station, Uday Parab who was there present on law and order duty at the Captain of Ports jetty was also literally pushed to the ground and another constable when jumped in to save him, was also assaulted. Still, Parab was safely pulled back by his colleagues and sent to GMC.
Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Panjim, Dy SP Serafin Dias when intervened to safeguard Director of Fisheries, Sharmila Monteiro, was also noticed being assaulted once by agitators.
In one more incident, agitator started to pelt stones. One stone also hit the head of the constable. Panjim police arrested a total of 23 people and were later released on bail.
Read: There were no lathi charge claims CM, AAP supports the Fishermen’s agitation
As said by the cops the whole episode started when agitators blocked Monteiro and began to attack her car. She was then taken out of the way safely but later the angry agitators began abusing and assaulting the police.
Another officer said, “We were patiently maintaining law and order despite the use of abusive language. Even senior police officers stepped in to try and convince the fishermen to calm down but they were not in a mood to listen to anything or anyone.”
It has also seen that some political parties have started making it a political issue just after the cops lathi charged and cleared the crowd. And still, the reality or the other end of the story is not come to limelight behind taking such stern action by the police.
Source: Heraldo
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