Goa’s Minister for Social Welfare, Subhash Phal Dessai, suffered minor bruises when a group of people allegedly threw mud and stones at him as tensions rose in Sao Jose De Areal village in South Goa’s Salcete taluka on Monday, following the installation of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on the previous day.
While village residents said at least three people were injured after police resorted to “mild lathi-charge” to disperse protesters, police denied that any lathi-charge took place.
The statue was installed on Sunday by a group of people, who identify themselves as ‘Shiv Premis’, on a private plot of land in the village. This led to tension in the area, with local residents alleging that the statue was installed illegally.
According to Sao Jose De Areal deputy sarpanch Valent Fernandez, one Sartaj Makandar from Margao had written to the village panchayat on February 9 requesting permission or a no-objection certificate (NOC) for putting up a 24-square-metre ‘plinth’ platform on his private property.
“There was no mention of any statue. The panchayat decided to conduct an inspection of the area and accordingly decide the next course of action,” Fernandez said.
However, at around 3 pm on Sunday, the ‘Shiv Premis’ brought a statue of Shivaji and placed it on the said private plot of land, he said, adding, “No permission had been given by the panchayat for installing a statue. While the documents of the plot were being verified, the authorities and police allowed the group to place the statue, claiming that the owner of the private property had given an NOC.”
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
