Collector suspended, judicial probe ordered in Balli incident
PTI, PANAJI | 28 May 2011 12:23 IST
Mangesh Gaonkar & Dilip Velip; charred to death in Balli
Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat today assured tribal leaders here of suspending the district collector and initiating a judicial probe into the killings of two tribal leaders in Balli village.
The United Tribal Association Alliance (UTAA) chief Prakash Velip said Kamat agreed to three of their major demands including suspension of south Goa district collector G P Naik and of initiating a judicial probe into Balli violence in which two tribal leaders were killed.
Kamat, accompanied by the state tribal welfare minister Filip Nery Rodrigues, today paid visit to the leaders at Azad Maidan here and assured them of arresting the accused, responsible for murdering Manguesh Gaonkar and Dilip Velip, within 24 hours.
Charred bodies of Gaonkar and Velip were recovered from the premises of a cashew factory in Balli village on May 26.
The tribals had refused to take custody of the bodies demanding immediate arrest of the culprits.
The tribals were protesting for implementation of reservation meant for them in the government jobs in the state and extending more powers to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) Commission.
The chief minister also said that the video footage of the spot procured from various channels will be used to track down the accused.
Goa government has so far filed six different cases in connection with the violence at Balli village.
Earlier, the judicial enquiry ordered by the Goa government was rejected by the tribals saying they had no faith in the government.
UTAA insisted on a judicial enquiry by a retired high court judge into the incident in which the culprits allegedly attacked the tribals and also set ablaze two of their leaders, Velip said.
