Decorated South Goa SP removed in late-night order, Congress draws a Bajrang Dal link

“I do not know anything. I have performed my duties in a professional manner. I was asked to relinquish the charge and report at the headquarters, so I have done that. I have simply followed orders,” Sawant said.

“The moment the SP began collecting information about Bajrang Dal leaders in Goa, the government panicked and immediately transferred her,” said state Congress president Amit Patkar. “This clearly shows that the BJP is not interested in governance but in shielding its ideological allies and suppressing officers who perform their duty with integrity.”

Patkar alleged the “hasty transfer” was yet another “glaring example of how the BJP-RSS ideology is interfering with the administration to protect its divisive agenda”.

Bajrang Dal’s Goa convenor Viraj Desai said he did not have any information about the SP’s transfer or whether the police were seeking any information about his outfit’s members. “Bajrang Dal’s name is being needlessly dragged into this. We are not concerned or involved in departmental affairs of the police,” he said.

Sawant’s transfer came two days after she received a “special recognition award” from Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai for “accurate planning and development of security forces, static surveillance teams and flying squads and playing a key role in ensuring peace during Lok Sabha 2024 elections in the state”. She was also selected for the President’s Medal for Distinguished Service last year.

After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Dhempe College in 1989, Sawant taught at a school for a brief period before joining the police in 1990 as a sub-inspector. As an inspector, she was among the police officers who investigated the sexual assault case against former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal. In 2014, she was promoted to Deputy Superintendent of Police.

Patkar alleged the police were being manipulated to serve the BJP’s political interests instead of upholding the law. “This is nothing but an act of intimidation against an honest officer who was merely doing her job. The BJP government has once again exposed itself as an enabler of lawlessness, ensuring that no action is taken against fringe elements that threaten Goa’s communal harmony,” he said.

“What is the government trying to hide? Why is it afraid of a fair investigation into Bajrang Dal leaders? This transfer is proof that the law enforcement agencies in Goa are being used as mere puppets of the BJP to safeguard its false narrative,” he added. The BJP and the government have not yet responded to the allegations.

The Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the VHP, played a prominent role in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement for building a Ram temple in Ayodhya. The outfit was banned in the aftermath of the demolition but the ban was revoked a year later. The Bajrang Dal has been accused numerous times over the years of harassing religious minorities over issues of “illegal conversion” and “love jihad”.