On Tuesday, September 5, on the eve of the festival of Janmashtami, at around 11.45 PM, villagers of the Rangalim village in Goa’s Velim, were putting up Janmashtami posters on an arch at the entrance of the village, and the posters had Shri Krishna’s images on them. At this point, certain miscreants, who were fully drunk reached the spot, and started creating a ruckus, on the pretext of asking about the NOC issued for the posters being put up. The NOC had already been issued for the same.
Following this, they tore the posters which were put up by the villagers, and threw the pieces on them, after which they threw the ladder being used by the villagers, and damaged other property as well.
Taking note of the incident, Savio Rodrigues, BJP Velim leader, took to X (formerly Twitter), and said, ‘In a shocking incident, miscreants tore posters of Gopal Janmashtami at Rangalim Village, Velim, put up by the villagers who are strong BJP supporters, and some BJP Velim Mandal members.’
‘I am told that the drunk miscreants are Congress supporters, and have been seen in pictures with Rahul Gandhi.’, added Rodrigues, and appealed to the CM of Goa, Dr Pramod Sawant, and the DGP Goa, for a proper FIR to be filed for deliberately hurting religious sentiments, and manhandling one of the villagers.
In a shocking incident, miscreants tore posters of Gopal Janamasthami at Rangalim village, Velim put by the villagers who are strong BJP supporters and some BJP Velim Mandal members. I am told that the drunk miscreants are Congress supporters and have been seen in pictures with… pic.twitter.com/fBuFxB4FLk
— Savio Rodrigues 🇮🇳 (@PrinceArihan) September 6, 2023
Speaking with GoaChronicle on the same, BJP Velim Mandal President, Saroj Motte, said that the posters which were torn by the miscreants had the image of Shri Krishna on them, and therefore, this act of theirs have hurt religious sentiments of the people in the Rangalim village. Motte, talking about how the police have been dragging their feet on this issue, said, ‘On Tuesday night, when we went to the police station in order to file an FIR against the hooligans, the PSI who was present, did not file an FIR at first, and simply lodged an NC (Non-cognizable offense).’
He added, ‘I do not know what pressure made the PSI do so. On Wednesday morning, we were able to force the police personnel to convert the NC into a proper FIR. We have copies of the FIR in our possession.’
On being asked about the alleged relations between the miscreants and the Congress party, Motte stated that the miscreants are hardcore Congress supporters, and their photographs with Rahul Gandhi can be found on Facebook.
‘If we consider the political aspect of this incident, it might be connected with the issue of Udhayanidhi Stalin’s “eradicate Sanatana Dharma” statement.’, added the BJP Velim Mandal President.
Highlighting how the police, despite filing an FIR in the case is still wishy-washy with their action, Motte said, ‘They have still not added IPC 295 to the FIR.’
The miscreants with Rahul Gandhi
FIR filed against the miscreants
