After linking crimes to migrants, Goa CM now draws link between scams and increased migration

“Similar cases have been occurring in the jewellery business. People from other states come to Goa… claiming they sold gold here and demand it back from the jewellers,” he said.

On Monday, the crime branch arrested two people for allegedly trafficking a woman from Goa to Muscat on the pretext of a job. Police said the accused were running an overseas recruitment agency illegally. The complainant told the police that the accused transported her to Muscat by deception and under the garb of providing a job as a domestic help. In Muscat, she was confined in a flat, starved and asked for sexual favours, police said.

“I am saying this because I want to tell you (people), including the business community, to be alert. Day by day, the police department is cracking down on such cases. Scams like job rackets, human trafficking and gold rackets are on the rise, but people should remain cautious and avoid falling for them,” said Sawant.

Last May, Sawant had claimed that 90 per cent of crimes in Goa are committed by migrant workers.

“Every migrant labourer working in Goa should possess a labour card. We promised this in the budget… about providing labour cards. After committing a crime here, migrant labourers return to their state and it becomes difficult to catch them. If we see the ratio… maximum… 90 per cent of the crimes in Goa are done by migrant labourers. Be it from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh or from other areas. I am not going into details of that,” he had said.

He later clarified that his speech was “twisted by some political leaders”.