log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline FRIDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2025 GOA 3-cylinder vs 4-cylinder engines: Which one suits Indian drivers best? New Hyundai Venue: Raising the segment bar IN SHORT >> SIR drive: 64% forms distributed PANAJI: The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Goa is underway in full swing with over 64 per cent of electoral forms being distributed to the voters within the first three days of the exercise. After almost 23 years, the SIR of electoral rolls kicked off in Goa, along with 11 other States, from November 4.  >> See pg 3 Rane assurance on South dist hospital MARGAO: A day after the issues plaguing the South Goa district hospital echoed at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Thursday assured the people of South Goa that the district hospital will be made fully functional before the 2027 Assembly election.  >> See pg 2 Restricted water in Bicholim, Mayem PANAJI: The Public Works Department has announced a restricted water supply for the entire Bicholim and Mayem constituencies on November 7 and 8, owing to urgent pipeline shifting work. According to the PWD, the pipeline is being relocated, necessitating the temporary disruption in water supply. Tender for Shivaji digital museum PANAJI: The Goa Tourism Development Corporation has floated a tender to build a fully immersive Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum at Farmagudi, where visitors will experience the Maratha ruler’s legacy through 3D/4D animation, holograms, spatial audio, AR/VR, laser visuals etc. Bihar polls: Nearly 65% vote in Phase-1 PATNA: In the ‘highest ever’ voter turnout in Bihar, nearly 65 per cent of 3.75 crore electorate exercised their franchise across 121 constituencies in the first phase of the assembly elections, which marks the beginning of a closely watched highstakes contest that is seen as a litmus test of the ruling National Democratic Alliance's popularity.  >> See pg 7 WEATHER >> Max: Min: Humidity: 27 C 23 C 72% The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 14 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME XI, NO. 140 GIDC’s new waste plan meets stiff resistance in Cuncolim Page 8 Facebook.com/thegoan 2 GOA Govt to skill youth, empower civic workers for waste management 3 Instagram.com/thegoanonline RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO Winter skin care: Healing itchy face and neck 11 SPORTS India’s bowlers deliver in style to secure 48-run win over Australia 14 Double murder in Saligao, Govt invokes NSA as gang violence, crimes escalate two found dead in house To be in force for 3 months; Magistrates BODIES DISCOVERED LYING IN A POOL OF BLOOD POLICE DOG SQUAD FAILS TO PROVIDE ANY CLUE THE GOAN I NETWORK PORVORIM Barely a day after a senior citizen was killed in Morjim, two persons were found murdered in a rented house at Muddo-Wado in Saligao on Thursday afternoon. Saligao police have identified the deceased as Richard D’Mello and Abhishek Gupta. Police said D’Mello had rented out a house and the house owner had been residing nearby. The house owner had called up D’Mello on Thursday afternoon in connection with the rent payment and when D’Mello did not respond to the call, the house owner went to meet him. Since the door was closed, the house owner looked into the window and was horrified to find two bodies lying in the room. He then alerted the Saligao police station and a police team led by Police Inspector Milind Bhuimbar rushed to the spot and opened the door THE GHASTLY MURDER „„D’Mello had rented a house in Saligao „„House owner calls D’Mello about rent but gets no response „„Owner goes to D’Mello’s rented house to check „„Finds door closed… looks through the window „„Sees two bodies lying inside the room „„Immediately informs Saligao police station „„Police team led by PI Milind Bhuimbar arrive, open the locked door „„Find bodies of D’Mello & Gupta in a pool of blood with visible injuries which had been locked from the inside. The bodies of D’Mello and Gupta were found lying in a pool of blood with injuries on both bodies. PI Bhuimbar notified Porvorim DySP Vish- wesh Karpe and North Goa SP Rahul Gupta. A police dog squad was pressed into service but the dogs could not provide any clue into the double murder. Both bodies were later sent to Police detain Electricity Dept AE over SIR duty INCIDENT SPARKS WIDESPREAD OUTRAGE THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI A dramatic turn of events unfolded on Thursday morning as an Assistant Engineer, Swapnil Walavalkar, who was manning a vital sub-station on which power supply to the entire North Goa depends, was detained by the police for allegedly failing to report for duties related to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The detention followed a formal complaint lodged by the Deputy Collector, Suyesh Khandeparkar, at the Colvale police station, citing dereliction of duty. The engineer, who was responsible for overseeing operations at the sub-station that supplies power to large parts of North Goa, was reportedly absent from his assigned SIR responsibilities, a lapse which Khandeparkar surprisingly deemed serious enough to warrant police in- „„Assistant at Colvale police Engineer drafted station, cites NO SIR! for SIR duties dereliction of WHAT but reportedly duty communicates HAPPENED „„Police dehis constraints tained assistant in joining the engineer process „„AE at the time was „„Dy Collector notices AE responsible for a key had not reported for SIR sub-station supplying duty power to much of North „„Files formal complaint Goa tervention. The move instantly provoked widespread outrage among officials within the Electricity Department, who argued that the officer was performing critical duties at the sub-station and had communicated his constraints in joining the SIR process. “This is not just unjust -it’s reckless,” said a senior Electricity Department official. “This particular sub-station is a high-priority facility. Pulling out its top engineer abruptly compromises the functioning” the official said. Opposition parties, meanwhile, condemned the act of detaining the engineer and accused the government of authoritarian overreach. Leaders from the Congress and Aam Aadmi >Continued on P7 GMC hospital at Bambolim for an autopsy. The motive behind the double murder is unclear and police investigations were in progress till late evening. While Saligao police were not prepared to divulge more details, sources told The Goans that D’Mello, a resident of Guirim, owned a music shop near the Saligao panchayat and that, Gupta was employed in the shop. Sources suspect that a former employee at the music store may have been involved in the double murder. Incidentally, Richard D’Mello, was the brother of All India Trinamool Congress State spokesperson, Trajano D’Mello. When contacted for his reaction, Trajano said he had no knowledge of the possible reasons behind his brother’s murder, explaining that he had not been in touch with Richard for over a month as he (Trajano) has been confined to bed due to a medical condition. can order preventive detention of suspects THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Grappling with rising street violence and emboldened criminal gangs, the Goa government has invoked the National Security Act (NSA) across the State for three months, a move triggered by the assault on activist Rama Kankonkar and gang rivalry in Mungul, Margao. SC STAYS HC ORDER ON ZENITO IN SIRIDAO CASE >> See pg 3 The decision, issued through a government order dated November 5 and signed by Under Secretary (Home-I) Manthan Naik, empowers the District Magistrates of North and South Goa to order the detention of individuals preventively, if they are deemed to pose a threat to public order. “...It is necessary so to do, hereby directs that during a period of three months from the date of commencement of this order, the District Magistrates of North and South Goa may also exercise the powers conferred by sub-section (2) NSA advisory board constituted PANAJI: The government has constituted an Advisory Board under the NSA Act, to review detention cases made under the Act. The three-member board chaired by former judge of the Bombay High Court Justice Utkarsh Bakre will also have Sayonara Telles Laad and Vandana Tendulkar, both former District and Additional Sessions Judges as members. “Any detention order passed by the Collector will be reviewed and confirmed by this Board. For this, the Collectorate Office will have to compulsorily furnish its order file within three weeks; otherwise, it would be termed null and void,” a senior government official told The Goan, on condition of anonymity. of section 3 of the said Act within the local limits of their jurisdiction, if he/she is satisfied as provided under said sub-section (2) of section 3 of the said Act,” reads the order dated November 5. The order and notification have been issued over a month after written proposals from the Superintendents of Police in North and South Goa flagged a rise in serious crimes and urged preventive measures to safeguard law and order. The proposal specifically mentioned the assault on Kankonkar and the fight in Mungul, both of which saw arrests of history-sheeters and other known offenders. Gang fights, assault cases, a firing incident in Pernem, and recent flare-ups inside nightclubs have forced the government to move decisively. With peak season approaching, the administration wants to ensure that law and order are not compromised,” police sources said. Beyond the assault and gang fight, Goa has in recent weeks witnessed a series of >Continued on P7 Morjim man’s death stirs village; questions mount as kin, locals link it to hill cutting AGNELO PEREIRA THE GOAN I MAPUSA The quiet coastal village of Morjim has been left shaken by the sudden and mysterious death of 63-year-old Umakant Khot, a soft-spoken retired port employee whose simple life revolved around his small home and a patch of tenanted land on the slopes of Varchawada. 3 ARRESTED, PROPERTY OWNER ABSCONDING >> See pg 3 For those who knew him, Khot was the kind of man who kept to himself, never quarreled with anyone and lived contentedly after his retirement from the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT). But behind that calm exterior, he was deeply troubled over an unfolding land dispute that had turned his once-peaceful existence into one of anxiety and confrontation. A tenant fighting for his rights Khot’s tenanted plot, located on a hill dotted with cash- Forensic findings hint at foul play ROAD TO CONTROVERSY: The road allegedly carved through Umakant Khot’s tenanted land at Varchawada, Morjim, to provide access to a property reportedly bought by a non-Goan.  Agnelo Pereira ew trees, had recently become the centre of contention after a large adjoining property – around 13,000 sq mts – was allegedly sold to an “outsider”. The new buyer, locals say, had carved out a road through Khot’s tenanted land to reach his property. “About six months ago, Khot had filed complaints with several government departments about the illegal road and land sale,” said a relative. “He felt ignored, but he kept fighting. He believed it was his duty to protect what rightfully belonged to him as a tenant,” he added. His neighbour, Devanand Gaude, also a tenant on the adjacent parcel of land, recalls Khot’s persistence. “He would visit the site almost every day. That land meant everything to him. He didn’t want to lose it to outsiders,” Gaude said. The day everything changed On Wednesday morning, Khot once again set out to his land, aware that the local talathi was expected to visit for an inspection following his latest complaint about ongoing hill cutting. “He left around 11.30 am. That was the last time anyone saw him alive,” Gaude said MAPUSA: The mystery surrounding the death of 63-year-old Umakant Khot from Morjim has deepened after the post-mortem examination revealed multiple injuries on his body, particularly on the face, raising serious doubts that the death was accidental or the result of a fall. The autopsy was conducted at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), Bambolim on Thursday. Sources informed that the pattern and number of injuries observed were inconsistent with an accidental fall. quietly. When Morjim Talathi S M Sakhalkar  arrived at the site at about 1.30 pm, he was met with a disturbing sight. “The man (Khot) was lying by the side of the newly built road leading to the property where the illegal hill cutting was reported. His relatives >Continued on P7 No environmental clearance for Govt flags human impact of tiger reserve before CEC projects without approved plans THE GOAN I NETWORK SEIAA WARNS BUILDERS, TIGHTENS RULES THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Goa State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (Goa-SEIAA) of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has decided that any construction activity undertaken without submission of approved building plans from the competent authority will attract strict action, including revocation of the environmental clearance (EC) granted for the project. The decision was taken by the Authority during its meeting held on October 29, after reviewing the MoEF&CC circular dated February 5, 2008, according to which the applications for Environmental Clearance (EC) are to be initially appraised based on building plans. The EC is to be granted only after the submission of approved building plans from the competent authority. However, it was brought to the Authority’s attention that some competent bod- ies—such as the Town and Country Planning Department (TCP) and Planning and Development Authorities (PDAs)—were hesitant to approve building plans without prior EC, particularly in cases where projects fall under the provisions of the EIA Notification, 2006 and its subsequent amendments. During the meeting, it was clarified that without prior EC, these authorities are unable to issue final building plan >Continued on P7 PANAJI n a fresh submission before the Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee (CEC), the State government has maintained that the protected areas of Mhadei-Cotigao proposed for declaration as a tiger reserve are home to nearly one lakh people, whose livelihoods depend heavily on forest resources, making their relocation impractical. The government has provided additional details to the Committee, as sought, pertaining to the habitation and infrastructure within the protected areas. A senior Forest Department official told The Goan that the GOA’S CASE AGAINST TIGER RESERVE „„Area is inhabited by nearly one lakh people who rely on forest resources for their livelihoods „„Proposed area covers 745.18 sq km, with about 200 sq km falling under the core and buffer zones „„It has dense human habitation, which would face serious socio-economic disruption State has submitted detailed information to the CEC, including habitation data, infrastructure maps, and the status of claims under the Wildlife Protection Act for the Mhadei and adjoining sanctuaries. “We have conveyed that these residents, living in forest villages for over five decades, are unwilling to be relocated and there are no feasible options I „„Submits habitation data, infrastructure maps, and details on claims under the Wildlife Protection Act to CEC „„Residents lived in these forest villages for over five decades and are unwilling to relocate „„No viable resettlement options for such a large population to resettle such a large population,” the official said. The CEC had, during its visit to Goa last month, sought detailed inputs from the Forest Department to assess the like- ly social and economic impact if Mhadei and other wildlife sanctuaries are notified as a tiger reserve. The committee also sought clarity on existing restrictions, human habitation within the protected areas, and the extent of possible displacement. According to the State’s submission, the proposed tiger reserve covers approximately 745.18 sq km, of which about 200 sq km falls under the core and buffer zones. Officials said the primary concern highlighted before the CEC was the dense human habitation, which could face significant socio-economic consequences if the area is >Continued on P7