SURAJ NANDREKAR
Calangute: A day after Calangute MLA blew the lead on the extortion racket in his constituency, some restaurant owners have admitted in person with Goemkarponn that such racket does exist.
Lobo on Monda alleged that some restaurant owners in his constituency are threatened to pay protection money by two miscreants.
“Renowned restaurants in Calangute have threatened to give protection money to 2 people not from the Calangute constituency. Extortion at this level never happened during my tenure as the MLA,” said Lobo.
Investigations by Goemkaroonn revealed that such a racket does exist.
A few restaurant owners, speaking to Goemkarponn on condition of anonymity, said that such a racket is currently going on.
“Two persons – Rahul and Yogesh are contacting restaurant owners in Calangute and Anjuna and demanding monthly protection money,” they said, adding one of them has several criminal cases against him.
The extortionists demanded ₹5 lakh to ₹35 lakhs for playing music after 10 pm, they say.
“Even if our places are sound proof they wang money. For what?” they alleged.
The restauranteurs asked why they should pay the money.
“We are not doing any. Illegal business, why should we give extortion money? Is this the way the government wants to harass the local businesses?” they asked.
When asked whether they have complained to the police, the restaurant retorted, saying, what will the police do?
“These two- Rahul and Yogesh are close to a high-profile politician, and complaints to the police will not help,” they said.
They said every top restaurant is being harassed, and demands are being made for extortion.
“Whoever refuses to pay has to face the music and are being harassed,” they said.
When contacted, Calangute MLA Michael Lobo said he would meet the Chief Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant and DGP Goa Jaspal Singh.
Lobo refused to name any person involved in the racket, saying it was not correct on his part to call anyone.
“I will reveal the name to CM, and as he said, I will also file a complaint. Goa depends on tourism, and you can’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg. We need to protect our tourism business,” he added.
Lobo also said that he had started his investigation; these two people were roaming around and asking for protection money from businesses and that he will file a written complaint.
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