Ferreira to raise law and order issue in assembly, questions govt's failure on citizens' security

MAPUSA: Aldona MLA Adv Carlos Alvares Ferreira said that the Congress Party will raise the issue of deteriorating law and order in the forthcoming assembly assembly. He was speaking on the acid attack incident involving a 17-year-old college student on Monday. Terming the incident as "shocking", Ferreira questioned the government over the lack of safety for citizens. "What is our safety? Women are raped, including minors and the elderly. In light of today's acid attack, what is the police and government doing? As the Chief Minister is the home minister, he should respond on this incident and tell us who is behind this attack, what is the intelligence and what is the safety of the people. We will take up this issue and pursue it with the government," he said. Ferreira called for enhancing the security and CCTV network across the state. "Such incidents can happen to anyone, hence our security network has to be strong. There is a need to enhance CCTV cameras as the crime rate has increased. The Merces junction AI cameras are not working. Even CCTVs in Margao were not working due to lack of maintenance," he said. "We don't want namesake arrests. If there is seriousness, there will be good law and order. Once we had sought CCTV footage from Police Stations and we were told that CCTVs are not functioning. The reasons are lack of maintenance, non-renewal of contract and failure to replace defunct cameras. We will raise the issue of law and order in the forthcoming assembly session," he added.