Team Goemkarponn
Panaji: In a significant development in Goa, social activist Rama Kankonkar was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody on Friday, following his arrest by the Panaji police for allegedly making derogatory and threatening statements against Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
Rama Kankonkar was brought to North
Goa District Hospital for medical Examination.
He stated that he has been fasting since yesterday and will continue this.
Today, the Chief Judicial Magistrate granted Rama 14 days of Judicial Custody.
“I will fast until death,” he told reporters at Mapusa.
The arrest took place after Kankonkar failed to comply with a police notice to join the investigation.
Kankonkar, who was summoned by the police on Thursday and detained briefly, was arrested again on Friday at around 11 am. He was subsequently produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Panaji, who ordered his judicial custody. Kankonkar is currently lodged in Colvale Jail.
The controversy began when Kankonkar addressed the media at Azad Maidan in Panaji on Wednesday, where he allegedly made hateful and threatening remarks against the Chief Minister. According to the FIR, these statements were likely to create or promote enmity among the public and incite them against Sawant. The police action was swift, with an FIR registered under non-bailable sections.
In addition to Kankonkar’s arrest, another social activist, Sanjay Barde, was arrested by the Mapusa police on Thursday night in connection with a fraud case dating back to 2008.
Barde was taken to Kolhapur, where a non-bailable warrant had been issued against him by the Kolhapur Court.
Barde claimed the arrest was a result of a political vendetta related to a road roller rental issue.
Opposition leaders in Goa have vehemently condemned Kankonkar’s arrest, accusing the Goa Police of acting under political pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Goa Forward Party president and MLA Vijai Sardesai termed the arrest a “shameful misuse of power” by the Goa government. Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) President Amit Patkar criticized the government for targeting activists instead of those who pose real threats to democracy.
Amit Palekar, the State president of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), labelled the arrest as “illegal” and an attempt to silence the people’s voice, violating the fundamental right to free speech under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution. Environmentalist Avertino Miranda expressed concerns about the state of democracy, highlighting the issue as a matter of free speech and noting that Kankonkar does not wish to seek bail.
