Goa: Chaos at Mangor Hill after cops evict striking councillor

VASCO: Chaos prevailed at Mangor Hill on Monday after a large posse of cops deployed there evicted councillor and ex-chairperson of the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC), Saifulla Khan, after he sat on an indefinite hunger strike at Chota Mangor demanding that the area be delisted as a containment zone.
Khan’s eviction prompted hundreds of residents to sit on the road in protest. The crowd dispersed only after the councillor reassured the people via a phone call that he was fine. He, however, told the police that he would not withdraw his strike.
Khan had last week threatened to go on a hunger strike if the administration didn’t fulfil his demands for the welfare of the people by Sunday.
On Sunday night, Khan and five others were served notices against going on strike and a team of policemen was stationed outside his house.
Khan, however, began his hunger strike prompting a team of authorities to visit the spot and convince him to call off his agitation. When the councillor refused to budge, deputy collector Sachin Dessai ordered that he be taken to the Vasco police station.
He was then taken to Margao on the instructions of South Goa collector Ajit Roy.
“I have been assured that permission will be granted by Friday enabling people to go to work after they register their names. The collector has also said that he would ask the electricity and water departments not to charge consumers in the containment zone,” Khan told TOI.
The former chairperson and councillor of MMC, Deepak Naik, told reporters that the government intends to lift the containmnet zone at Mangor Hill in next 8 to 10 days. “The reports from Mangor Hill have now started coming negative and there is a decline in cases. Good news can been be expected by August15, he said.