Aldona MLA’s demand stands vindicated, welcomes move to relieve DGP of duties.
PANAJI: Welcoming the notification by the Ministry of Home Affairs to relieve IPS officer Jaspal Singh as Director General of Police of Goa, Aldona MLA Adv Carlos Alvares Ferreira on Friday said that this was needed for investigating authorities to get to the depth of the Assagao case.
The notification dated July 12, 2024 states that IPS officer from Delhi, Alok Kumar, has been deputed to Goa as DGP with immediate effect.
Ferreira was the first to expose the involvement of a high-ranking IPS officer in the Assagao matter where a house was illegally partially demolished.
He had demanded that the state government should relieve the DGP of his duties, and that the IPS officer should be made an abettor in the Assagao case.
Ferreira made the subsequent demand following a statement given by Anjuna police inspector Prashal Desai to investigating officials, naming the DGP as one of the persons involved in the case.
“The PI’s statement has named the DGP. I had always said that there is a big fish involved, a senior IPS officer. The PI has given details of the calls which were made from time to time and how he was directed to take action or stop the action. My demand stands fully vindicated,” Ferreira had said.
The MLA had stated that IPS and IAS officers are under the control of MHA, and hence the Goa government does not have powers to suspend the DGP.
“The chief minister should write to the Home Ministry to send a replacement. The DGP should not be transferred. Action should be taken to find out the involvement of everyone named in the statement. Time has come that Goa must see a cleansing of the system, and it is time for the chief minister to walk the talk that he will not spare anyone. The CM has also said that the government won’t allow the case to be withdrawn. This is not a case against the lady and the family, this is a case against the state and therefore it is the duty on the part of the chief minister to pursue this case to its logical end,” he had said.
“I demand that all the call details between those named in the PI’s statement should be immediately obtained and their handsets should be seized so that the entire connection and the link between the players, non-players, stakeholders, contractors and bouncers can be established. There are other police officers who have been named in the statement. The role of each one has to be examined. The apprehension of small persons is not the end of the story,” Ferreira had stated.
