Arrested for filing RTI on Parrikar's health: Businessman
Panaji, April 23 : Arrested and released on bail for uploading a false Facebook post announcing the death of ailing Manohar Parrikar, businessman Kenneth Silveira has said he was arrested two days after he filed an RTI plea with the Goa Chief Minister's Office seeking his health status.
The 35-year-old, arrested and released on bail last week, detailed the police action in a new social media post on Monday. Parrikar is being treated for advanced pancreatic cancer in a New York hospital.
On Monday, Silveira, who unsuccessfully contested the 2017 Panaji Legislative Assembly bypoll against Parrikar, also alleged that the Crime Branch was "instructed by the Chief Minister's Office" to "illegally arrest him".
"BJP government is scared of me and wanted to muzzle me, one of the few reasons for my illegal arrest," Silveira said in his Facebook post.
"This RTI was sent by me directly to the CM office after which I was arrested on flimsy grounds. BJP government stands exposed by me... Only way to silence me is to kill me," said the resident of Vasco port town, 35 km from here.
The application filed under the Right to Information Act, a copy of which has also been uploaded to Facebook, seeks to know among other things issues related to governance in the absence of Parrikar, expenditure incurred by the state government on the treatment of the Chief Minister, copies of his medical bills and Parrikar's expected date of return.
Kenneth was arrested by the Crime Branch of Goa Police on April 18, a day after he put up a post on the social media site claiming Parrikar was dead. He was arrested after a complaint was filed by a Goa Bharatiya Janata Party official.
On April 20, a few dozen members of civil society staged a protest outside the state police headquarters accusing the police of trying to muzzle free speech.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
