log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday SATURDAY JUNE 25, 2022 GOA 14 pages PRICE ` 6 Sao Joao festivities end in tragedy at Navelim, youth drowns in well How Goans across the world celebrated Sao Joao >> See page 7 IN SHORT >> Jobs: Shripad gets vocal for local PANAJI: Expressing anguish with central officials for favouring non-Goans for jobs at public undertakings in the State, Union Minister of State for Tourism Shripad Naik has warned that this will not be tolerated in future.  >> See pg 3 149 fresh cases, positivity above 12% PANAJI: Goa’s single day count of new Covid-19 infections in the 24-hour reporting period of Thursday-Friday was 149 with the positivity rate at 12.46 per cent. The State’s active Covid caseload inched closer to the 1000mark at 926. SC upholds SIT clean chit to Modi NEW DELHI: SC upheld SIT’s clean chit to then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots and said there is no tittle of material to support the allegation. WEATHER >> Max: 26 C Min: 24 C Humidity: 91% Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday 2 The Goan (Playstore) PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO. 8 GOA Voyages then and now: A seafarer remembers his journey at sea 5 Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO Four plants that have amazing beauty benefits 9 College lecturer murdered GYM TRAINER ARRESTED, ESTRANGED RELATIONSHIP SUSPECTED THE GOAN I NETWORK OLD GOA A gym trainer was arrested by Old Goa police on charges of murdering a college lecturer on Friday evening. According to police, Gauri Achari, who was working as a lecturer in the Khandola College, was reported missing by her mother and a missing complaint was filed at the Old Goa police station. Upon investigations, the police found that the accused Gaurav Bidre and Achari were in a relationship for a while. But for over a month, Achari had broken the relation due to which Bidre had got upset and was constantly approaching the victim to resume the relationship. Bidre was immediately picked up by the police and after an interrogation, confessed having murdered Achari by strangulation. Later, Bidre showed police the area at the Kadamba Plateau in Old Goa, where the Bidre confessed murdering Achari by strangulation. He later showed police the area where he dumped the body of the deceased body of deceased Achari was dumped. After conducting the panchanama, the police sent the body for post-mortem in the GMC. The accused, Bidre, was placed under arrest in connec- tion with the murder. According to reports, Bidre was associated with BCCI for a brief period as a Strength and Conditioning Coach. He had also provided training to ATS commandos in Goa. Meanwhile, reliable sources informed The Goan that the lecturer could have been murdered at a residential colony in Corlim, where she was staying, as residents had reportedly heard screams in the building on Thursday night. “Some residents in the same building as the victim informed that they heard screams on Thursday night, but nobody dared to venture out,” sources said. “There is a high possibility that after murdering the victim in the building, the accused could have dumped the body in the remote area in Old Goa,” the sources added. Further investigations are being conducted by Old Goa PI Sameer Gadekar under the supervision of DySP Sudesh Naik and SP Shobit Saxena. First govt official arrested, but Shetty gets bail THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing fraudulent land deals on Friday made its first arrest of a government employee but suffered a setback when Mapusa JMFC’s court granted bail to Vikrant Shetty the first accused it had netted on Sunday last. Dhiresh Naik, an employee of the Archives and Archaeology Department, was arrested for his complicity in cases of fraudulent transfer of properties and was remanded to four days of police custody by a court. The nature of his involvement has not been revealed. Another employee of the Archives department, one Shivanand Madkaikar, was also interrogated by the SIT but he has not yet been arrested. Meanwhile, Shetty who was arrested last Sunday, secured bail on Friday from the Mapusa JMFC’s court. Shetty was arrested for the fraudulent sale and transfer of a piece of land in Assagao. According to Shetty’s legal counsel, the JMFC has imposed severe conditions while granting bail including requiring him to report to the SIT for LAND FRAUD eight days. He has also been asked to furnish bail bonds and sureties of amounts proportionate to the value of the land he is alleged to be involved in their illegal sale or transfer. Earlier on Wednesday, the SIT had also arrested St Inez resident Mohammed Shafi (45) in the same Assagao case in which Shetty had been arrested. Shafi has confessed his involvement in at least three cases of illegal land transfer using forged documents, the SIT has claimed. Director General of Police (DGP) Jaspal Singh, IPS, has said that criminal cases related to land irregularities from across the State will be soon transferred to the SIT. He said, there several cases related to land frauds registered at police stations across Goa and the setting up of the SIT will embolden people to register complaints. Singh said, the SIT will also recommend amendments to existing laws, rules and procedures aimed at pre-empting such frauds related to land deals. The SIT was set up by the State government last week after several cases of land sale/transfer using forged documents had come to light over several years. The SIT is headed by Superintendent of Police (Crime) Nidhin Valsan, IPS, and besides police officers also consists of officials from the departments of revenue, archives and the State Registrar. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said that nearly 60-70 such cases of illegal sale and transfer of land had come to the notice of the government over the last 10 years and more which prompted him to set up the SIT. SPORTS FC Goa sign striker Alvaro Vazquez on two-year deal 14 TCP to upload draft ODPs on website, govt assures HC THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Goa government told the Bombay High Court at Goa that it would upload digital copies of the draft Outline Development Plans no sooner they are finalised by the Planning and Development Authorities (PDAs). Hearing a petition filed by the Goa Bachao Abhiyan and the Goa Foundation, the Court took on record a statement made by the Advocate General, who said that the government was making a “concession” and uploading the copies on the websites in order that they can be checked and if need be challenged. The PIL was filed in December 2021 by GBA and the Goa Foundation after it was found that despite requests the PDA had refused to provide a soft copy of the draft ODP in order to enable petitioners to file objections. The petitioners complained to the Court that handing over a soft copy was the requirement of the age. At present, petitioners were being forced to visit the PDA office and take camera pictures of the huge draft ODPs displayed on its walls. This not only led to difficulties in studying the document, but also involved costs since the petitioners and others were Considering the march of technology, we think that there should be no difficulty for any of the PDAs to forward the draft ODPs to the Town and Country Planning Department in digital formats —-High Court required to print these out. Most people however were sufficiently equipped to read such documents on their computers if provided with soft copies. “The Town and Country Planning Department will, hereafter, upload the draft Outline Development Plans (ODPs) within one week from the date of publication of notice under Section 35 of the Goa Town and Country Planning Act, 1974,” the Advocate General told the High Court. “Considering the march of technology, we think that there should be no difficulty for any of the PDAs to forward the draft ODPs to the Town and Country Planning Department in digital formats. Accordingly, we direct all the >Continued on P5