IT is a matter of shame that despite having the police headquarters of Goa police which is not tired of boasting of its professional approach and attitude, Panaji city has turned into heaven for thieves.

This is simply reinforced by the number of cases registered at the Panaji town police station. There may be many cases which could not be registered. If the reported cases are to be relied not that less than 20 incidents of theft took place from March 1 to April 7 this year. This is certainly a blot on the face of the Goa police. How could the Goa police justify its action of prevention of crime when in a single night six instances of robberies or shop-breaking took place at Alfran building near Don Bosco and other areas? During this period a number of four wheelers were stolen. But what has been most intriguing is the police have miserably failed to nab the thieves and recover the stolen properties and goods. Basically it points to two facts. First, the Goa police lacks a strong intelligence network which could provide feedback about these criminals and second, it does not carry out regular patrol duty. The thieves are least scared of the law-enforcing agencies and their personnel are also borne out of the fact that they have not spared the police officials’ residences either. The Goa police instead of taking shelter behind the logic of involvement of migrants should widen its operational network, broad base its network, strengthen its intelligence gathering and be more visible. The government should take the situation seriously. It ought not forget that police is the most visible face of the government and its performance determines the image quotient of the government.