Team Goemkarponn
VASCO: Congress leader Olencio Simoes on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the state government and the Home Ministry, holding them accountable for the deaths of five students at the BITS Pilani K.K. Birla Goa Campus.
Simoes said the repeated incidents expose a total collapse of law and order in the constituency. “The people of Cortalim are shocked and anguished as the death toll at BITS Pilani K.K. Birla Goa Campus has now reached five. Despite repeated complaints and our formal demand for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe submitted to the Chief Minister, Director General of Police, Verna Police Inspector, and South Goa Collector, no serious action has been taken,” he alleged.
Calling it a “catastrophic failure of governance,” Simoes said the Home Ministry had failed the people of Cortalim. “Since the time of Goa’s liberation, our constituency has never witnessed such a collapse of governance and administrative machinery. We have seen gold chain robberies, multiple bike thefts, multi-crore gambling raids, illegal call centres duping people, bulls killing human beings, and now repeated deaths inside a college campus,” he said.
The Congress leader demanded strict action against the institute’s management. “We demand the immediate arrest of the BITS Pilani management for their failure to safeguard students, and the constitution of an independent SIT probe to investigate academic pressure, substance abuse freely available around the campus, and the nexus allowing such tragedies to repeat,” Simoes stated.
He also called for action against illegal bars operating in the area. “The authorities must immediately shut down all illegal bars thriving around the campus under the very nose of law enforcement,” he demanded.
Warning that the people of Cortalim would not remain silent, Simoes said, “This is not just negligence, it is a breakdown of governance. The Home Ministry has failed to ensure safety, security, and justice. The people of Cortalim will not remain silent spectators while lives are being lost and lawlessness prevails. Justice delayed is justice denied. The government must act now.”
