Team Goemkarponn
Panaji: Panaji Police have registered a case against several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and their supporters for allegedly staging an unlawful protest and burning effigies during the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct for the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) elections.
According to police, the offence was registered on March 5 at 8:07 pm based on a complaint filed by Umesh Shirodkar, Flying Squad Officer for the General Election to the Corporation of the City of Panaji, 2026.
As per the complaint, at around 4:30 pm on March 5, AAP leaders including Valmiki Naik, Sandesh Talekar alias Dessai, Sarfarz Ankalji, Gerson Gomes, Prashant Naik, Michal Cardozo, Herton Fernandes, Vishwajit Shirodkar, Hemant Kumar, Shekar Awasthi and Adv. Vishwanath Lotlikar, along with 30 to 40 supporters and party workers, allegedly formed an unlawful assembly in front of the BJP office on Dr A.B. Road in Panaji.
Police said the group organised the protest without obtaining prior permission from the competent authority. The protest was held under the pretext of the imprisonment of former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the alleged liquor scam, claiming that the cases were politically motivated.
During the protest, the demonstrators allegedly burned effigies of the Prime Minister and the Goa Chief Minister in front of the BJP office, which police said posed a risk to human life and the safety of people residing and working in the vicinity.
Police further stated that the incident occurred while the Model Code of Conduct and Section 163 of the BSS Act, 2023 were in force, amounting to disobedience of orders duly promulgated by the Election Authority.
Further investigation in the case is being carried out by PSI Mahesh Naik of Panaji Police Station.
