Goa-More cops for netas than coast

More cops for netas than coast
Preetu Nair | TNN

Panaji: There are 74 policemen manning the sandy stretch from Majorda to Mobor at Colva police station. The number of police personnel posted at the sensitive Calangute and Anjuna police stations are 85 and 77 respectively. The number of police personnel guarding the state’s 12 ministers, speaker and deputy speaker touches 164, much more than the number of policemen posted at any single police station in Goa.
Policemen handling the district Police Control Rooms in North and South Goa are 13 and 14 respectively, just above the number of men—12 — guarding home minister Ravi Naik. There are 37 cops manning the state PCR, which is still lower than the number of policemen protecting CM Digambar Kamat.
Goa’s CM and speaker have more police security than the state’s three coastal police stations. While the CM has 38 policemen guarding him, speaker Pratapsingh Rane is guarded by 33 policemen. Incidentally, the number of policemen manning the coastline from Benaulim to Pollem at the Mobor coastal police station is 22, lower than the number of policemen — 23 — guarding health minister Vishwajit Rane.
In other words, the police strength at sensitive police stations in Calangute (85), Anjuna (77), Pernem (82), Colva (74) and Canacona (64), all popular destinations with Israeli, British and American tourists or at the PCR or coastal police stations, important after the Mumbai attacks, is less compared to that given to ministers, former ministers and even parliamentary secretaries. Strength at police stations is just on paper, says ex-SP
Panaji: There are more policemen guarding the politicians in the state than the number of those manning the sensitive stretches of Goa coastal areas.
“The strength at police stations is just on paper. Many policemen from police stations are deployed at other places, including the houses of ruling party leaders. In the last few years it has become a trend amongst politicians, especially from the ruling party, to demand more security personnel than they are entitled to or require,” said former SP Alex Rasquinha.
Incidentally, while most police stations still have vintage .303 rifles, policemen guarding the homes of ministers are armed with 7.62 SLRs.
While the CM has a pilot vehicle and an escort vehicle with men armed with 9mm carbines and pistols or revolvers, the speaker has a flying squad and escort vehicle with policemen armed with pistols and 9mm carbines. The speaker’s son, who is the health minister has two escort vehicles and men armed with pistols and carbines. All ministers have two personal security officers, besides a sentry to guard their home, consisting of one hawaldar and four police constables. Even as politicians in the state continue to ask for, and get, security cover although they face no security threat, the ratio of police to population in the state in July 2008 was 1:339.
“Here security cover is not a matter of threat perception, but of prestige. The more security men you have, the more powerful you appear before the public. Mere cabinet status does not entitle anyone to security and there has to be a genuine threat perception,” said a top police official.
Former ministers Luizinho Faleiro, Wilfred de Souza and Francisco Sardinha (even before he became an MP) continued with their personal security officers long after they ceased to be ministers. MLAs Agnelo Fernandes, Francis Silveira, Nilkanth Halarnkar have managed to get personal security officers. Only education minister Atanasio Monserrate doesn’t have police protection. Incidentally, though the security review panel of the Goa police examines threat perception to politicians with the help of the Intelligence Bureau, most polticians manage to get protection merely on the strength of their political clout and influence.

January 9, 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition