Members of opposition party BJP gather in the well of the House demanding CBI probe into the police-drug peddler nexus case while the Speaker, Mr Pratapsing Rane looks on, on Tuesday. (Nandesh Kambli)
PANAJI: The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs on Tuesday morning rushed to the well of the House raising slogans against the government for not accepting their demand to initiate a CBI inquiry into the alleged police-drug trade-politician nexus.
The ruckus saw the Speaker, Mr Pratapsingh Rane adjourning the House till evening session; this being the third adjournment of the House in two weeks, over the same issue.
Earlier, speaking during the Question Hour, the Mandrem MLA, Mr Laxmikant Parsenkar pointed out that the Crime Branch was incompetent to carry out investigation into the above-mentioned allegation as during the past three years it had failed to get any accused convicted, while 74 persons linked to the cases probed by the Crime Branch were acquitted. “This shows absolutely zero performance on the part of the Crime Branch,” he noted.
The Chief Minister, in his reply mentioned that most of the acquittals in the cases handled by the Crime Branch were pertaining to gambling activities. “This had happened as the witnesses in these cases had turned hostile, and furthermore, the word matka is not defined in the Gambling Act,” he added. He also maintained that the Crime Branch had done a good job in handling crime-related cases.
