Goa has announced high alert after reports that terrorists were planning attacks on its beaches. But that was the easier part, as the Home Department has no clue how to proceed further.The ‘red alert’ was declared after two terrorists arrested in Karnataka confessed of planning bomb blasts in Goa. However, their plan could not be implemented as they did not receive a consignment of RDX from Pakistan.Goa has its own tourist and coastal police. However, both departments are not equipped to tackle terror due to the lack of assistance from the Government. “The Coastal Police was set up in 2006, but till date we don’t even have a motorcycle,” said an officer of the department. “There are three police stations under the Coastal Police—Betul and Harbour in South Goa and Siolim in the north. However, the strategic Harbour police station doesn’t even have an officer, and the Betul station works from a small outpost at Assolna,” he said. “We have 10 policemen who patrol the nearby beaches everyday,” he said.Security experts said that more than the policemen what the state needs is a good intelligence network. “The Goa Police lacks a serious intelligence machinery based on a wide network of informants,” said Vishnudas Vernekar, a recently retired SP. “Earlier, we had a Local Information Bureau which used to keep in touch with the shanty towns, red light areas, clubs and matka dens through their informants. They used to keep an eye on the activities of all suspects. However, the system has eroded now as most of the policemen and officers are busy with the VIPs,” he said. For the past many years, there have been reports that terrorists were planning a Bali-like attack in the state. But, the state police kept denying the reports, apparently fearing that a panic will hit the tourism industry. IG Kishen Kumar blames the tourism industry for not assisting the police. “There is no cooperation from the hotels, who are reluctant to assist the police. As the suspected terrorists stayed in guesthouses here and went unnoticed, we are planning to ask guesthouses and hotels to compulsorily demand identity proof or local references from guests. We can’t check every tourist. It is the duty of the hotels to help the police in this regard,” he said. “There was a high alert even during the International Film Festival last year. We could not trace a accused in a murder case in one of the hotels as they hadn’t bothered to check the antecedents of its guests,” he added. IG Kumar clarified that red alert means reviewing the police system. “We did the same in November and December by gearing up our force and also recruiting three companies of CIAF,” he added. On Friday, Chief Minister Digamber Kamat warned the local hotels that their licenses would be cancelled if they failed to keep records of guests.
