Ramponkar agitation turns violent; protesters lathicharged, arrested
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 12 May 2016 22:33 IST
The agitation of Ramponkar turned violent on second day in Panaji with police resorting to lathicharge and arresting leaders of the protesting traditional fishermen.
At Cutbona jetty, ramponkar and trawler owner physically clashed over blocking the entry of trawlers in Sal river from the sea.
The Ramponkar have been demanding that trawlers with LED lights be seized by the fisheries department.
The situation was becoming tense since morning when ramponkar served a deadline to take action on the fishing trawlers by evening.
As the deadline was approaching, somebody threw a stone at the police guarding the fisheries department.
Police Inspector Uday Parab was injured and rushed to the hospital.
The police took this excuse and dispersed the agitators by resorting to lathicharge.
The police also warned the ramponkar to clear River Mandovi of their canoes.
While some of the leaders were pushed into the police buses, the others took their canoes and dispersed from River Mandovi.
The situation also turned violent at Cutbona fishing jetty in South Goa as ramponkar blocked the river mouth of Sal river, blocking all the fishing trawlers from coming in.
They wanted the fisheries department to inspect the trawlers with LED lights and suspend their licences.
As a result, therRamponkar and mechanized fishermen indulged in a fist fight, pushing each other.
The police immediately intervened and separated them.
But the Mamaltdar as well as the deputy collector failed to make peace.
The trawler owners were asking to permit them to supply water and food to the crew members, who were stranded in the sea.
The ramponkar reached a compromise at Cutbona only when the agitating traditional fishermen were beaten up in Panaji by the police.
Velim MLA and trawler owner Bejamin Silva intervened in the evening, after which the ramponkar agreed to allow trawlers to come to the jetty.
The authorities have assured them that not a single trawler with LED lights would be allowed to go in the sea.
Ealier, in the morning, fisheries director Shamila Coutinho tried to pacify the agitators by issuing a show cause notice to all the jetties.
She asked the jetty chairmen to furnish names of the trawler owners carrying LED lights.
But Ramponkar wanted her to act immediately, where government acted in a typical manner of suppressing the agitation.
