Ground situation hasn’t changed in as many years
MARGAO
Just imagine a situation when a Goa police lock-up facility is being shared by as many as four police stations in Salcete taluka.
The Margao police station lock-up facility caters to as many as four police stations, including Margao, Maina-Curtorim, Colva and the recently opened Fatorda. Before the opening of the Fatorda police station, the Margao PS lock-up was playing host to the under trials brought from Colva and Maina-Curtorim stations.
The question that remains unanswered is how come a lock-up facility of one police station caters to the requirements of additional three police stations.
A senior police officer replied saying the Margao police station lock-up is average in size and not built to house under trials of other police stations. He, however, hastened to add that the number of accused lodged in the Margao lock-up is relatively less, leaving enough space for under trials from other
police stations.
Inquiries by The Goan have revealed that the police stations of Colva and Maina-Curtorim have absolutely no lock-up facility of their own. In the case of the recently opened Fatorda police station, though a lock-up facility is put in place in the old police quarters at Arlem, it is still not put to use for want of manpower.
Sources in the know said that a police lock-up needs to be manned round the clock by the police personnel. But given that the Fatorda police station has still not received its quota of manpower, particularly police personnel, the police officials have been left with no option but to lodge the accused persons in the Margao police lock-up.
What’s interesting to note is that while the Maina-Curtorim and Colva police stations have been in existence for decades now, they have no lock-up of their own to house the accused or under trials. As far as the Colva police station is concerned, the reason is simple: It is housed in an old house with hardly any security worth its name. Demands to build a new police station building for the Colva police station have only fallen on deaf ears over the years.
As far as Maina-Curtorim is concerned, the police station is housed in the district police headquarters, housing the Margao PS. Though the Goa police has acquired spacious land at Curtorim near Sonsodo to house a modern police station with a lock-up facility, the project is yet to see light of the day.
Cuncolim PS, built in the early 90s is the lone police station, other than Margao PS, which has a lock-up facility as per the set standards.
