The Assagao house demolition incident of Saturday is shocking because it exposes the lawlessness, the blatant compromises of the law-keepers in the State and the muscle power of those involved in real estate that appears to have a shield of invincibility. Over 10 ‘bouncers’ with JCB in tow partly demolished a ground-plus-one residential structure in Bhairo Alto, Assagao in full daylight without complying with any legal requirements of serving notices to the occupants or seeking a demolition order from authorities. They not only inflicted major damage to the structure but abducted the father and son who claimed to be residents before letting them free after a good five hours.
The point of focus is not on ownership rights to the structure but on the demolition being executed without any sanction from authorities. The police team which visited the site later managed to halt the exercise, but their action looked far from convincing, especially because they spontaneously failed to detain the bouncers, the JCB driver, or the reported buyer of the house, one Sharma. A good 48 hours later, after facing tremendous pressure from locals and political leaders, the police arrested the JCB driver. The question here is, why are the bouncers at whose behest the driver acted, and Sharma the alleged mastermind, not arrested?
The role of policemen comes into sharp focus and leads one to believe that they worked in tandem with the culprits and left gaping holes in discharging duties. The policemen confiscated the keys of the JCB but chose not to immediately haul up those responsible for the act of demolition leading to a suspicion that they were acting as facilitators to the crime.
Even if the JCB resumed operations after the police left the scene with the help of a second key, it only meant that the bouncers and the JCB driver had the confidence to proceed with the job and did not bother about police action. Police intervention appeared symbolic. A good 48 hours later, police were still struggling with the case and searching for answers, while there was a deafening silence from the DGP and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
The Assagao incident is an ignominious show of goondaism and casts a shadow over the integrity of policemen, a force that the common man looks upon in distressful times such as these. The police may have filed a case for abduction and property damage on Sunday, but the hesitancy it is showing in acting against law breakers is as clear as daylight.
In an era where the real estate lobbies from Delhi and other States are swooping down on properties in Goa, some trying to grab land illegally, this incident casts a shadow of insecurity. The confidence of common citizens in Goa police has hit a new low with the Assagao incident.
It's time Goans unite against such goondaism that runs riot bypassing laws of the State. The tearing hurry to buy properties and houses in Goa, the money that is being splurged and the muscle power the lobbies wield, could find Goans helplessly beaten black and blue and displaced without a word spoken.
