Thaindian News

Panaji, May 7 (IANS) Goa’s Director General of Police (DGP) Bhim Sain Bassi Saturday said the state was not just a good prospect for tourists but for terrorists too.

Speaking at a function to launch a marine commando force, Bassi said the police force in Goa, despite its “maligned” image, was equipped to respond to a 26/11 kind of terror attack.

“Goa is a good prospect for terrorists… (who) will like to do anything which will get publicity. For them there could be no better place than Goa, because of the economic prospects, foreign tourists and the attention of the international media here,” Bassi said.

“We cannot say we are immune to terror (attacks),” said Bassi, who will be giving up charge as Goa’s police chief later this week.

The DGP said that several of Goa’s policemen had been trained at top defence training schools in the country and that the state had the capability to respond efficiently to a 26/11-style terror attack in Goa.

“We have the capability to fight back Mumbai-like terror attack,” Bassi said.

He said that despite the negative image of Goa projected in Rohan Sippy’s film “Dum Maaro Dum”, it was a safe place to be in, especially for women.

“Goa is the safest place to be no matter what ‘Dum Maaro Dum’ may try to project. This is one place where a woman can walk the streets without hassles at any time, dressing how she wants,” Bassi said.

Police in the tourism-oriented Goa have been on the backfoot in the recent past, after a Swedish model and former girlfriend of an Israeli alleged drug dealer spilled the beans on the police-politician-drug mafia nexus.

Seven police officers were arrested, and the name of Goa Home Minister Ravi Naik’s son was dragged into the drug nexus controversy by the international media. The case is being currently probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).