Parrikar ignored Goans in video address: Congress
Panaji, May 14: The Congress on Monday accused ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar of addressing only party workers and ignoring Goans in his brief video address, which was broadcast at the one-day BJP booth workers' convention held near here on Sunday.
"We are sympathetic to the fact that the Chief Minister is ill. But in his video address, he completely ignored the people of Goa and only spoke about BJP karyakartas. This is completely unacceptable and shows partisanship on part of Parrikar," Congress spokesperson Siddhanath Buyao told the media here.
Parrikar is currently undergoing advanced treatment for pancreatic cancer in the US where he was shifted in March, a month after he was first admitted to a Mumbai hospital for stomach pain, which was subsequently diagnosed as cancer.
The video address is the first 'public' appearance made by Parrikar since March.
In his address, Parrikar urged party workers to prepare for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and said that he would be returning to Goa "in a few weeks".
Buyao also attacked BJP national president Amit Shah, who was also present at the Sunday convention, for not clarifying a statement he made in Karnataka on the ongoing Mhadei inter-state water dispute.
"Shah was completely quiet on it and so were the BJP workers. We expected the BJP workers to question Shah about his statement in Karnataka on the Mhadei issue."
Shah, in an election meeting in Karnataka, promised to share water from the river to Karnataka within six months, even as the case is being heard by a Tribunal appointed by the Central government.
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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
