‘Hundreds’ attend party at Morjim, Russian held

PANAJI/MAPUSA: There seems to be no let-up in Goa’s party scene in the beach belts of north as police on Sunday night arrested a Russian national and a hotel owner for organising a party at Morjim. They were later granted bail.
The Morjim party comes over a month after locals foiled an attempt by foreigners to host a rave party at Pernem.
Like the Pernem case, at Morjim, too, it was the locals who informed police after they saw several vehicles parked near the hotel.Locals claimed there were at least 300 persons at the venue—mostly foreigners—and alleged that none of them were wearing masks or maintaining social distancing.
In a video that has gone viral, locals alleged that guests began gathering at the venue in the evening and police were called at 9pm but showed up only at 10.30pm.
They demanded that all the guests who violated curfew orders must be arrested and even questioned the cops on how the foreigners were “allowed to escape”. As per the Centre’s guidelines, Goa has restricted movement or gathering of people between 10pm and 5am except for medical or other emergencies.
In the video, one of the cops is trying to pacify the locals by saying an offence would be booked against the organisers but is silent on why action is not being taken against those who were not wearing masks.
Pernem police said an offence has been registered under environmental and noise laws. They also said the organisers had gathered 20-25 foreigners, and this was in violation of section 144.
Sources said this is not the first such party involving foreigners since the lockdown began. They said that in Ashvem, some foreign nationals had organised a party in a stone quarry. Another was held in Arambol, from where police seized some musical instruments.
In April, foreigners planned rave parties in the jungles of Pernem’s coastal belt, but the attempt was foiled by Paliem and Arambol locals.
Meanwhile, Morjim sarpanch Vaishali Shetgaonkar said strict action would be taken against violators. “We will not allow such night parties in Morjim,” she said.
As soon as the matter came to the notice of the panchayat, a meeting was convened at 11.30am on Monday, she said, and a show cause notice was sent to the hotel owner.
“A copy has been forward to Pernem deputy collector and police station,” she said, adding that in the light of new cases popping up everywhere, the government should rethink its decisions to let hotels reopen.