Actor Gaurav Bakshi arrested over parking row with Goa minister

Goa Police arrested actor Gaurav Bakshi after a confrontation with a minister’s chauffeur over parking. Bakshi restrained the minister by parking in front of the minister's vehicle.

The Goa Police have arrested actor and activist Gaurav Bakshi a day after an alleged confrontation with the chauffeur of Goa fisheries minister Nilkanth Halarnkar over parking in a narrow lane in north Goa.

Actor Gaurav Bakshi was arrested by Goa police. (PTI)

The row broke out after Bakshi, around 4pm on Wednesday, allegedly “wrongfully restrained the minister by parking his vehicle in front of the government vehicle”

“Despite repeated requests, he refused to move his vehicle, thereby restraining the complainant and minister’s movement and deterred the complainant from performing his lawful duties,” said North Goa Superintendent of Police Akshat Kaushal.

Rahul Parab, the minister’s personal security officer, filed a police complaint on Wednesday evening.

The incident took place at Revora in North Goa, within the boundaries of the Tivim constituency, which Halarnkar represents, outside the Panchayat office that the minister was visiting for work.

Bakshi has been booked under sections 126 (2), 221 and 132 of the BNS and is in police custody.

“Bakshi was arguing with my driver and my PSO (personal security officer. My PSO told him to move his vehicle, but he refused and instead started arguing with him, he started filming the incident. My PSO later filed a complaint and the police have registered a case,” Halarnkar said.

A video of the incident reveals that the Minister’s car was already parked on the narrow road when Bakshi arrived at the scene and asked him to move.

However, according to Bakshi’s telling of the event, he had arrived at the panchayat office to submit an application for a construction licence but saw a vehicle parked right on the narrow road outside the panchayat and asked the driver to move, which he refused, leading to the altercation.