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ANOTHER CHIEF MINISTER RAVI NAIK NEEDED… To crack down on the gangs of Goa
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ANOTHER CHIEF MINISTER RAVI NAIK NEEDED… To crack down on the gangs of Goa

Stray Thoughts September 26, 2025 , by

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. Since goons seem to be the flavor of the season a few stray thoughts on the rise of goons and how to tackle them. I believe that the gangs of goons mushroomed after Goa became a state in 1987. There was a complete breakdown of law and order from 1989 when the Pratapsingh Rane-led Congress government was toppled by the then godfather general Churchill Alemao. Churchill was angry because he was not given the sports portfolio, which went to an alleged fellow smuggler — the late Francisco Monte Cruz.
Churchill continued to be the power on the “throne” beyond the 40 days he actually occupied the official residence of the chief minister, before putting his puppet Proto Barboza in the chair. During Churchill’s tenure as chief minister the official residence of the chief minister was turned into a goon’s palace. I recall visiting the official residence, it was strewn with bottles of booze with very tough looking young men around. I recall that the then SP Goa Ranjit Narayan followed a group of goons but only to give up the chase, when they entered the chief minister’s official bungalow at Altinho Panjim.
There was the protector’s gang in Santa Cruz led by Rudolph Fernandes, current MLA and son of former MLA of Santa Cruz “Mummy Dearest” Victoria Fernandes. There was the Mohamed gang led by a 6ft and just as broad goon who controlled tourist access outside the old Fidalgo Hotel, he was a gun for hire. There was a Popat, a one-man army, a drug addict, who would break a beer bottle and use the sharp edges to attack people. There was the Rego gang in Merces, constantly at war with the Rudolph gang. One of their battles spilled over into the streets when the Santa Cruz gang plucked a member of the Merces gang from the Samrat theatre and virtually beat to death.
In Margao there was the Texiera gang. In Taleigao, big landlord Babush Monserrate was the moneylender who lent money at extortionate interest to builders. All moneylenders including nationalized banks used goons and bouncers to collect their dues. Babush used to encourage young people to hang around and plied them with chicken, unlimited booze and even drugs. They served as enforcers of his rules. Very often just the threat of being bashed up was enough. When people did not pay up their cars were re-possessed. In the case of builders Babush took premium flats like the penthouse in the iconic Shalom building on the Dona Paula bypass road.
Rudolph’s gang extended full support to Babush. Indeed, I was perhaps amongst the first victims of a “supari” assault by the Rudolph gang. It may be recalled how I was assaulted, ironically on the 15th of September, 1989, a day after Dayanand Narvekar resigned, within 50 meters of my underground basement flat down a lane behind the police station at Dona Paula. Subsequently, my then chief reporter at the OHeraldo, Anthony Fernandes, was assaulted at the Horseshoe Restaurant & Bar on Rue de Ourem, for reporting that the protectors had started their own Goa matka, the most popular form of gambling, also in Mumbai and throughout the country.
It was Ravi Naik, then chief minister in the 90s, who cracked down on all the gangs of goons. He invoked the National Security Act against them and overnight all of them were arrested and detained at the scenic location of Reis Magos and Aguada which served as jails; this included Churchill Alemao, Victoria and Rudolph Fernandes. Churchill who was absconding surrendered to the Goa Police.
Under the NSA goons could be detained for a minimum of six months without bail. The goons of course had a great time at the Reis Magos jail as Churchill and Rudolph used to order food from the Goenchin, considered best Chinese food restaurant to this day. It was Chief Minister Ravi Naik who broke the back of the goons, who have all come back with the blessings of the double-engined Dr Pramod Sawant’s government.

GST CUT PRETENCES
AND a few stray thoughts on the so called cuts in the GST. Though Narendra Modi, the prime minister has urged all housewives to shop till they drop dead to take advantage of his festive gift, he has not provided them with the resources to do so. There has been a flurry of advertisements offering cheaper cars, pressure cookers, white goods like refrigerators, washing machines and dishwashers, all at deep discounted prices. But in theory prices of daily necessities like milk, bread, butter, eggs, etc, not to mention desi ghee which is needed for making the sweet goodies of the Navratri-Dassera-Diwali season, textiles for new clothes, and even mithai in mithai shops should have become cheaper.
The lower GST was also supposed to make drugs more affordable. But the cost of cement has come down to boost housing. On the ground level however nothing or little has changed. There is no downscaling of price of milk, butter, curd, eggs or ghee. There has been no fall in the food delivered by Swiggy or Zomato. Or the cost of eating out in restaurants high or lowly.
Retailers also argue that it is not possible to sell old and present stocks at lower prices. They of course have no problems selling old stock at higher prices when taxes go up. It has also been pointed out that the Modi government has fleeced consumers with the exorbitant GST of 18% and 22% for years. It is a case of the “bili sau chooye kha kar Haj pe chali” syndrome.

NGT & GOA COASTAL ZONE RULES
AND a few stray thoughts on the National Green Tribunal (NGT), directing the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority to upload within three months on their website, all the structures which have violated the CRZ rules. It may be pointed out that no structures are permitted within 200 metres of the high tide line, regardless of whether they are seaside or riverside properties. Even structures which have come up on mangroves and backwaters in Merces have been declared illegal by the court under the Coastal Zone Regulations Act.
The CRZ in any case has become a joke with builders and hotel lobbies getting politicians to dilute the CRZ rules. These were first introduced during the tenure of the late prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, who banned all constructions within 500 meters of the high tide line. Subsequently, this was reduced to 200 meters and for a brief period of time even to 90 meters during the tenure of late chief minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar.
The additional twist in Goa was that the CRZ was modified to 90 meters in respect of river front properties. Conveniently, the Mandovi river meeting point with the Arabian sea at Miramar, the Dona Paula beach front on which Cidade de Goa came up and the Bambolim Beach Resort, also the Grand Hyatt, have all benefitted from being classified as riverfront hotels. Ironically, also the 5-star cottages designed and built by Charles Correa at Ribandar right on the Mandovi river within 10 metres of the river. We must wait and see who figures on the list that the court has asked the Coastal Management Authories to put up on their website.

SOUTH GOA HOSPITAL NEGLECT
AND a few stray thoughts on the total neglect of the South Goa District Hospital which came up as a replacement to the Hospicio. It has been admitted that there is a severe shortage of both medical and para-medical staff. In theory the hospital has a capacity of 500 beds but recently it was reported that there were only two junior doctors handling Casualty here. Most of the equipment like CT scan machines do not function. Patients are forced to sleep on the floor or undergo treatment while seated on wheelchairs and stretchers, while awaiting a ward bed vacant bed. Apparently, the South Goa District Hospital does not get the attention it deserves from Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, except when he carries out sudden inspections and sacks some doctors and nurses. In fact, it’s being reported that Sanquelim, the chief minister’s constituency, has better health facilities than the South Goa District Hospital.

FESTIVE SEASON HERE
AND a last stray thought for the festive season which started off with the first day of Navratri (Sept 22). Goans do not give much importance to Navratri or Dassera or Diwali which come one after another although the celebrations are observed with some differences. Goans only observe the ritual of the Ayudh puja which literally means worshipping the tools of trade. Earlier, Dassera was basically a festival of warriors, who worshiped their weapons of war on Aayudh puja day. However, the Gujarati and Bengali communities in Goa go all out to celebrate Navratri (literally nine days of celebration invoking the mother goddess Amba-maa) and Durga Puja (which invokes the warrior goddess Durga-maa) with much greater pomp and ceremony.
The Saraswats in Goa claim to be the descendents of the Brahmins of West Bengal, so not surprisingly the Dempo family members are one of the main patrons of the Durga Puja festival with the Bong community in Goa. Gujaratis of course have their garba-dandiya raas evenings culminating with a gigantic much-sponsored disco garba-dandiya raas event. The main organizer of this gala event, if we’re not mistaken, is still the former mayor of Panjim CCP Yatin Parekh and wife Lata Parekh who presides over the Panjim Gujarati Samaj.

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