The director and staff of an offshore casino vessel in Goa attacked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) team, police stated on Saturday. The accident took place on Thursday at Cruise Casino Pride when a case was registered against several people, including the director of the casino and two of its senior employees.
The Panaji police complaint was lodged by the ED team headed by Poluri Chenna Kesava Rao, who claimed the team was beaten and locked in a room while searching the casino in connection with a money laundering case. At the scene, the team was verbally threatened, said a police officer with the Goa Police, adding the accused threatened to harm an assistant director.
The ED has also accused the casino director and staff of culpable conduct in the tampering of documents found during the search. This alleged act of obstruction has added more colour to the ongoing investigation.
This is not the first time such an event has occurred. In fact, in the neighbouring Bijwasan area of Delhi, another up was assaulted last month when probing a cyber fraud. That operation was also the time that another director was injured when he was attacked. Likewise, the ED officials, while searching premises at Sandeshkhali in West Bengal, were attacked by a muscleman, Shahjahan Sheikh of Trinamool Congress, at his residence.
These continued attacks on ED officials bring to the fore several revelations of risks enforcement agencies experience during probing periods. It was also said that the ED team in Goa was working on leads related to a major case of money laundering, which also explains the high risk when it comes to fighting financial crimes. Police and government have promised to carry out a detailed investigation of the Goa incident with an emphasis on the identification of the culprits and protection of police officers in similar operations in future.
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