DGP bullied us to aid Assagao demolition: Goa cops report

Panaji: In a new twist to the Assagao house demolition case, a factual report submitted by Anjuna police to chief secretary Puneet Goel and North Goa SP Akshat Kaushal on Thursday has said director general of police (DGP) Jaspal Singh pressurised them to help Mumbai resident and a senior intelligence officer’s wife Pooja Sharma to get the property vacated.
Besides instructing them not to take any action against Pooja Sharma, the report also said DGP Singh threatened Anjuna police officers that if the “demolition work” was not allowed to continue, they would have to “face the consequences”.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant, who also holds the home portfolio, had directed the chief secretary on Wednesday to conduct a detailed inquiry into the demolition of the house.
The controversy started on June 22 when Pooja Sharma, who bought the property from the landlord in 2023, sent her people to allegedly demolish a house that was occupied by a Goan family.
The report, a copy of which is with TOI, said when Anjuna police tried to stop the demolition of the house, “the DGP started shouting” and said it should be demolished at any cost. He also instructed them that “if any person is obstructing the demolition, they should be brought to the police station”.
The DGP had earlier met Anjuna police officers along with the SDPO (sub divisional police officer) Mapusa, Sandesh Chodankar, and discussed with them the purchase of the Assagao property by Pooja Sharma. “(He had) directed us to help her in vacating the house,” the report said.
On June 22, the DGP called Anjuna police officers and informed them that “the party of Pooja Sharma will come to Assagao” and directed them to help her, the report said.
In a chronology of events that transpired on June 22, the report said at 2.32pm, Anjuna police got a call from Panaji police control room that a person needs their help as “some persons are demolishing his house near Ganga tiles factory at Assagao”.
Anjuna police sub-inspectors (PSIs) Sanket Pokhare and Nitin Naik rushed to the spot and found an excavator was demolishing the house—ground plus one floor. Pradeep Agarwadekar and his family, who were present on the spot, claimed that they were inside the house when they started demolishing.
“Pokhare told the people to stop the demolition work, while asking the Agarwadekars to produce the documents of the house. He also directed the excavator operator to bring the vehicle to the police station,” the report said.
While Anjuna police were carrying out their duty, they got a call from the DGP, “asking why the work of demolition of the house has been stopped”. When he was apprised about the situation, the report said, he got angry and said, “there was nobody inside the house when the demolition work was going as he has personally verified it”.
The report said the DGP was pressurising Anjuna police to “take the occupants of the house to the police station and to allow the demolition work to continue”. Instead, Anjuna police instructed the Agarwadekars to come to the police station and lodge a complaint.
Pradeep Agarwadekar’s wife Prinsha along with her daughter came to the police station, while her husband and son stayed back at the site.
The report said while they were at the police station, a person Arshad Khawaja came and told police that he was demolishing the house “as per the instructions from the top officer”. He told them that they would have received a phone call from the top officer.
Khawaja also told them that he had received instructions to start the work again and said they could get in touch with him if they had any doubts. “Khawaja shared his mobile number.”
The owner of the excavator, Ashley Rodrigues, also went to the police station and said Khawaja had told him that he has “contacts with top officials and that he (Khawaja) will manage all things on the spot”.
The DGP called Anjuna police again and directed that “anyhow the work of demolition of the house must take place and no one should stop the work… to allow Arshad Khawaja to continue demolishing the house”.
The Anjuna police report also said DGP Singh told them that “Pooja Sharma is the owner of the property, and no cognisable offence is made out into the complaint of Prinsha Agarwadekar. Hence, there is no need to take action on her (Prinsha's) complaint”.