Goa: ‘New bill will penalise landlords who don’t give cops tenant information’

PANAJI: Stating that 85% of rapes and murders in the state are committed by migrants, chief minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said the government would introduce a tenant verification bill in assembly that would contain provisions to penalise landlords who rent accommodation to migrants without due verification.
The chief minister told the House that Monday’s double murder case in Fatorda — which involved a Karnataka native killing a casual labourer and a ragpicker over alcohol — was cracked within 12 hours of the incident being reported. He said the accused neither had a labour card nor was his tenant verification done.
“If the accused had moved out of state by bus or some other route, the case would have remained unsolved forever as there was no information about him with the state authorities,” Sawant said. “Migrants are staying in Goa without tenant verification.”
Sawant also urged all legislators to support the drive to check how many landlords have conducted tenant verification. “If there is any person renting his premises without tenant verification, bring it to the notice of the government,” Sawant told them.
Reiterating that a law would be enforced to act against people who do not inform the police after renting out their premises, the chief minister insisted that a record of all migrants be maintained at police stations. He said contractors who employ migrants for construction work or any other activity must conduct police verification and obtain labour cards for them.