Panaji: An anti-narcotics squad led by a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Superintendent was attacked by some residents of Arambol, a coastal village in North Goa, during a anti-narcotics search and raid operation.
Confirming the incident Superintendent of Police, North Goa, Chandan Choudhary, told The Hindu that a First Information Report was registered late on Saturday evening after recording the statement of the NCB Superintendent J. Ranjan.
“One shot was fired by the NCB official to disperse the crowd,” Ms. Choudhary confirmed. The NCB official was accompanied by four police personnel from Mapusa police station while he was on a search and raid operation in Arambol village, a beach tourism destination also known for easy availability of drugs.
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A senior police official from Pernem, on condition of anonymity, earlier said he should have taken the police force from Arambol-Pernem police station. It will have to be found out who from Mapusa police station gave him the personnel, which has no jurisdiction over Arambol area.
He said that the police personnel accompanying the official were beaten up by the crowd and all were rescued by Pernem police force. Police sources said, that Mr. Ranjan was forced to discharge his weapon after he got engaged in a scuffle with a local resident, which enraged local residents. The police were in the process of identifying those involved in the scuffle.
“We will form teams to identify those persons who were tried to gang-up on Mr. Ranjan, which forced him to fire in the air,” Ms. Choudhary said when asked if any arrests were being made.
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She said it was a lapse on the part of the officer to not inform the Pernem police station of a raid in their jurisdiction. She also confirmed that officer had gone to raid a drug peddler from Himachal Pradesh named Narayan.