A video of former Goa Tourism Minister Francisco alias Mickky Pacheco driving an SUV on a beach in South Goa and then allegedly threatening and assaulting a water sports operator went viral on social media on Monday.
Melroy Da Silva, the water sports operator, uploaded a video of Mr. Pacheco confronting him. He post claimed that Mr. Pacheco ran over a parachute owned by him at Betalbatim beach on Sunday with his vehicle on the beach.
It also alleges that after Mr. Da Silva confronted Mr. Pacheco at a shack at the adjoining beach at Utorda soon after the incident, Mr. Pacheco and his friends assaulted him and the former Minister repeatedly showed him the middle finger.
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“I followed the vehicle tyre-tracks and found it parked at Utorda beach. When I went inside the shack and asked him why he ran over the parachute and whether he could drive his car on the beach, Mr. Mickky and his three friends tried to assault me. He even tried to run his vehicle on me,” Mr. Da Silva has said in his social media post.
Mr. Pacheco, however, insisted that he was innocent.
On Monday, Mr. Pacheco told presspersons that he was innocent and only trying to pick up an ailing friend at the nearby Utorda beach village. He denied the allegations of assault, and said claiming he would be filing a complaint against Mr. Da Silva on Tuesday.
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“I was driving my jeep only to pick up a sick friend at Utorda as common ambulances cannot be driven on beaches. If I have broken a law by driving on the beach, I am ready to pay the fine to the authorities. Why should this man confront me and point a camera at me,” Mr. Pacheco asked.