More than three weeks after he was allegedly assaulted by at least seven people near Panaji, activist Rama Kankonkar Saturday alleged that he suspects the involvement of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte in the alleged attack. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant dismissed it as an attempt to "sensationalise and politicise the issue". After he was discharged from the Goa Medical College on Saturday, Kankonkar said the investigating officer did not question him regarding the involvement of any politician in the case, when his statement was recorded. “Yet, in my statement I have said that based on when the attacks began, I have some suspicions. If there is a mastermind, the police have to say so. If you are asking me if I have suspicions on who it might be, then I can say that I have my doubts on chief minister Pramod Sawant, who is the Home Minister, and…Tourism minister Rohan Khaunte,” Kankonkar told the media. He went on to say: “I’m saying this again that I have no idea if this is actually true, but I have my doubts…because the man [accused] in pink shirt who was attacking me, who was taunting me for maligning his MLA’s name…it is the job of the police to find out who his MLA is.” It was for the police to find out “who was upset about the ST portfolio,” he said. “They [police] asked me if I knew the attackers and I said I have no personal enmity with them,” he added. Responding to the activist's allegations, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said: "The government is very serious about Rama's case. Everyone involved has been arrested based on his clues. His statement has been recorded. The statement that he has given today.to include some politicians' names to sensationalise it. I do not know who is instigating him, but his earlier statement is recorded. Unnecessarily giving statements to sensationalise the issue will not work. People know me and I have been in politics for the last 25 years. The case is being investigated thoroughly. I do not know why he made such a statement after so many days. This is an attempt to sensationalise and politicise the case. It is an attempt to unnecessarily blame the politicians”. Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte did not respond to requests for a comment. In his six-page statement to the police recorded on October 2, Kankonkar said he was attacked because of the issues that he had been raising. “I always raised issues/questions with regards to government functioning and had raised the issue of Khapreshwar Devasthan questioning the politician[s] about the same. One of the other issues which I raised was that ‘why always ST [Tribal Affairs] portfolio…is with the Home Minister when we have four ST MLAs’,” the statement read. Kankonkar said on September 18 around 12.30 pm, he and his friend were walking to his car after having lunch in Caranzalem, when a group of men cornered him and assaulted him with chains and cables and smeared cow dung on his face. In his statement, he alleged that during the assault, one of the accused, who was in a pink t-shirt, asked: “Tuka ST portfolio Zay” [Do you want ST portfolio?] He said the accused asked: “Do you wish to be Goa’s rakhondar [protector]?” Kankonkar alleged he was given a copy of his statement after it was reported in the media. On Monday, the Goa Police said his statement was recorded on October 2 evening at a ward in Goa Medical College. “In the statement, the victim has narrated details about how a group of individuals assaulted him near Kamakshi Hotel in Caranzalem. He also mentioned that during the assault, he identified one of the accused named Minguel. He further narrated that Minguel tried to assault him on two occasions in the past,” the police said in its statement then. The statement went on to say: “He remembers the description of two more individuals and has said that he can identify the attackers. Apart from this he has not named anyone else in his statement”. Demanding a judicial inquiry in the case, the Congress Saturday said Chief Minister Sawant and Tourism Minister Khaunte must resign to ensure a free and fair investigation. “When a victim names the chief minister and a cabinet minister, it reflects a deep crisis of faith in the leadership and a complete breakdown of public confidence in this government,” said Amit Patkar, president, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee. The incident had led to protests in Panaji last month, with the Opposition and activists terming the assault on the activist an attempt to “muzzle independent voices” and alleging a “collapse of law and order” in the state. The protesters demanded an impartial probe to identify the alleged “mastermind” of the attack, including any political links. Police have so far arrested eight people, including the prime accused, Zenito Cardozo, 36, under whose instructions the assault allegedly took place.
