Cops clueless after Goa blast, opposition seeks CBI probe

With police continuing to grope in the dark a week after the low-intensity blast pre-Diwali blast in Goa, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manohar Parrikar on Friday said time was running out for the "incapable" cops and called for a CBI probe.

With police continuing to grope in the dark a week after the low-intensity blast pre-Diwali blast in Goa, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manohar Parrikar on Friday said time was running out for the "incapable" cops and called for a CBI probe.

HT Image

The leader of opposition met Governor SS Sidhu on Friday to formally seek a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the blast, which killed two persons. He told reporters that the improvised explosive device (IED) blast could have multi-state ramifications.

"The persons against whom the case has been filed have both died. The police have been able to make absolutely no headway in their investigations. The state police are incapable of handling a blast case investigation with multi-state ramifications," Parrikar said.

"The BJP wants the police to get to the bottom of the matter. If any organisation is involved, they should be punished, even if it is the Sanatan Sanstha," the former chief minister said.

In a letter submitted to the governor, signed by the legislative wing of the BJP, Parrikar said: "The reputation of the state as a safe tourist destination had severely eroded, causing serious repercussions on the economy of the tourism industry and the state as a whole."

Sanatan Sanstha members Malgonda Patil and Yogesh Naik were ferrying an IED on a two wheeler last Friday when the explosion took place in Margao, 35 km from Panaji. Both were killed.

Three other IEDs, two of which were found near the blast site and the other about 30 km away near Vasco, did not go off.