Arrests at press conference in Melaulim, Opposition in Goa cries foul

Panaji (Goa) [India], July 9 : The Opposition in Goa on Wednesday slammed the BJP-led coalition government in the state for arresting three people in Melaulim village during a press conference yesterday, which was called to oppose land acquisition procedures for the upcoming IIT-Goa campus project.
GPCC President Girish Chodankar has called another press conference in this regard at the same venue at 4 pm today.
"It is a constitutional right of every citizen to express himself. No government or police has the power to arrest them. This is a complete 'dadagiri' of this defective government," he said while addressing the media yesterday.
"Viswajit Rane is misusing the government machinery to impose his decisions and the Chief Minister has lost complete control over the administration. What happened in Guleli is most unfortunate and it is a signal for dangerous future," he added.
Ever since an IIT was allotted to Goa by the Centre in 2014, the educational institution has been functioning from a temporary campus shared by the Goa Engineering College situated in Farmagudi village of South Goa.
Two sites were previously identified by the state government, in Canacona and Sanguem sub districts, for setting up a permanent campus but were later dropped due to protests from local residents and criticism from the Opposition, which alleged that there was a land scam in shortlisting the sites for the institute.