Home / Cover Story / RAMA KANKONKAR ASSAULTED!
RAMA KANKONKAR ASSAULTED!
No Comments on RAMA KANKONKAR ASSAULTED!

RAMA KANKONKAR ASSAULTED!

Cover Story September 20, 2025 , by

By Dr Olav Albuquerque

THE Goa Police seem to have no serious crimes to detect. So their major coup de grace was the arrest of a juvenile, Akshay Vashishth, who posted that the Manohar International Airport, also known as MOPA, was haunted. This prompted their social media monitoring cell to find out who had dared to post such nonsense. They finally traced the IP address to a Delhi-based person, and the Goa Police then sent an entire team to arrest the man who posted that the MOPA airport was haunted.
Apparently, the man is not a professional journalist who would never indulge in such pranks. However, the Goa Police alleged in court that the intention of the accused was to create a scare. Coming in the wake of false rumours that the tourist traffic in Goa has fallen, this was yet another provocation like waving a red rag before a bull.
The magistrate appeared not to be over-enthused by this Sherlock-like detection of the Goa Police and immediately granted the accused bail on the ground that the police had not issued him a notice prior to arresting him.
Leaving that incident aside, in the fifth incident of an unnatural death in elite educational institutions, a 20-year-old student was found dead at the BITS Pilani campus in south Goa on September 4, which may justify the vehement opposition of Goan villagers to acquire their land for the setting up of an IIT institution. The police said that on September 4, Rishi Nair was found dead in his hostel room at around 10.45am. The door of his room was forced open by the hostel authorities after he did not respond to calls on his mobile.
When the authorities broke open his hostel room door, they found his corpse lying motionless on his bed. The cause of his death could not be immediately ascertained but the police felt it was a probable case of suicide. This is the fifth such incident since December 2024. Students Om Priya Singh (December 2024), Tharv Desai (March 2025), Krishna Kasera (May 2025) and Kushagra Jain (August 2025) were found dead in their hostel rooms. This appears to be suspicious because the authorities cannot come to a conclusion about whether it was because of academic pressure or due to some external causes that these students took their own lives.
SUICIDES TO BE PROBED
CHIEF Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters that a committee had been set up under the collector to probe these suicides, if indeed they could be labelled as suicides. “Such incidents are unfortunate and should not recur. The state government will take further steps after receiving the report of the collector,” he said.
The management of BITS Pilani which is a private deemed university is yet to issue a formal statement on these unnatural deaths. Earlier, the main economy of Goa was on account of mining, tourism, agriculture or fishing. But now, Goa has gradually been emerging as an educational hub with many industrialists vying with each other to set up private universities in this tiny state, which has a high economic growth rate compared to bigger states like Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Finally, social activist Rama Kankonkar was brutally assaulted by six individuals at Caranzalem on Thursday, September 18, 2025. Eyewitnesses said the attackers came armed with wires and knives before escaping on two-wheelers.
The police claimed they rushed to the scene and have launched an investigation. The SP North told journalists that a thorough probe is underway and is being personally supervised by the SDPO, Panaji. The incident has triggered widespread condemnation. Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao denounced the assault as a sign of rising “goondagiri” in Goa.
“The perpetrators of this cowardly act must be apprehended and brought to justice. Goa cannot tolerate attacks that silence whistle-blowers and undermine the voice of dissent,” Alemao said. Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai echoed this view, declaring: “This is not just an attack on Kankonkar, it’s an attack on every Goan who dares to question those in power. We will not be quiet. We demand justice.” Civil society groups have also expressed alarm, warning that such targeted violence could create a climate of fear among activists and citizens who speak against the government.
INTIMIDATING COMPLAINANTS
LATER on in the evening, Panaji police registered an FIR against six unknown persons for allegedly wrongfully confining Rama Kankonkar and assaulting him with deadly weapons, accused also allegedly threatened him with dire consequences, attempting to commit murder, and showed a knife to intimidate the complainant.
Videos were circulated showing Rama Kankonkar sitting bare-chested on the road while a woman is seen applying an ice pack to his left eye, while he is shouting that the police will not investigate the assault and will definitely leave loopholes for the assailants to secure bail and escape from being convicted.
Kankonkar has been agitating against land grabbing in Goa, so that big builders who hire gangsters to intimidate these activists are protected by the police who dare not go against the orders of some of Goa’s ministers. One of them is known to have planned an assault on a person who was assaulted with knuckle dusters some years back.
Fr Bismarck, who died mysteriously, was also the alleged victim of a big builder whose projects he was opposing on Divar Island. He left the priesthood to focus while time on his activism against land grabbing in Goa.

(Dr Olav Albuquerque holds a PhD in law and is a senior journalist-cum-advocate of the Bombay high court.)

No related posts.

Search

Back to Top