On 23 Sep 2003 02:12:49 -0000, "Philip Neri DeSouza" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Sao Jose de Areal tense as miscreants stone church MARGAO, SEPT 22 — BY HERALD REPORTER — Tension ran high in the sleepy village of Sao Jose de Areal on Sunday night as miscreants hurled a stone at the St Joseph Church, besides stoning the Bethany Convent school building. Both these institutions are located at a distance of around 100 to 150 meters. The miscreants — whose number remains unknown, smashed around 22 window panes of the school building and damaged a window pane of the Church premises in the stone throwing incident. Blood stains — believed to be of an injured miscreant, were to be seen all over the corridor, besides the school news stand and a notice board. The police have maintained a strict vigil in the village by intensifying patrolling following a request by the Parish Priest, Fr Nicolau Rodrigues. At first, the miscreants hurled a stone at the Church premises, damaging a glass pane. This incident occured at around 9 pm. Half an hour later, the Bethany convent school building became the next target of the miscreants when the premises came under a barrage of stones, damaging around 22 window panes. The Convent Sisters were immediately informed of the incident by a women staying near the school building, who heard the sounds of stone pelting and dogs barking. A huge crowd of parishioners converged at the church premises upon hearing the news of the stoning incident. They later joined the Maina Curtorim police personnel in the combing operations around the Nessai Industrial Estate. The headmistress of school, Sr Patrina D’Mello later lodged a complaint with the police. The parish priest also requested the police to intensify patrolling in the village. On Monday, senior police officers, including Superintendent of police, South I D Shukla and SDPO Umesh Gaonkar visited Sao Jose de Areal for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation. Speaking to Herald, Shukla said that the police has registered a case of criminal tresspass and causing damage to property against unknown persons. He said the damage caused to property is worth around Rs 6000. Asked to throw light on the possible motive behind the incident, Shukla said “right now, we have received some information on the incident”, but declined to divulge further details. Later this evening, Shukla was closetted with SDPO Gaonkar and other officials of the Maina Curtorim police. He said the police has attached the stones and the blood stained news stand and the notice board. ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################