Mickky ‘roughed up’ by NCP colleague
Former Goa tourism minister Mickky Pacheco is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons. The NCP MLA alleged that he was beaten up by supporters of fellow party leader and Goa revenue minister Jose Philip D’Souza late on Tuesday night. Mr D’Souza, on the other hand, said that Mr Pacheco was distributing large amounts of cash in his constituency (Vasco) to sabotage the upcoming civic body polls there.
The animosity between the two NCP leaders is an open secret in Goa with both heavyweights trying to derail the other’s political aspirations at every possible turn. On Tuesday night, some supporters of Mr D’Souza saw Mr Pacheco talking to a few prominent businessmen of Vasco at a restaurant of Hotel Maharaj. They informed Mr D’Souza and he immediately reached the hotel with a troop of supporters. Mr Pacheco said that he was “having dinner with a few friends” when suddenly Mr D’Souza barged in and asked what he was doing in the latter’s town. An altercation ensued and supporters of Mr D’Souza allegedly roughed up Mr Pacheco. They also broke the windscreen of his friend’s car in the process. Mr Pacheco told mediapersons that Mr D’Souza himself had assaulted him during the unprovoked attack.
When contacted, Mr D’Souza said that he had tried his utmost to stop his supporters and calm down the situation. He, however, added, “Mickky has been distributing crores of rupees in Vasco to ensure that my team loses in the upcoming municipality elections.” Mr D’Souza’s wife and another family member are running in the polls. When asked why no money was found on Mr Pacheco at the time of the altercation Mr D’Souza said rather unconvincingly, “He had a bagful of it on Tuesday night, but in the melee someone walked away with the bag.”
When news about the fight reached Mr Pacheco’s supporters in Benaulim, his constituency, hundreds of them assembled and proceeded towards Vasco. Mr Pacheco met them halfway and explained the situation. They then proceeded to the Vasco police station to lodge a complaint. Mr D’Souza also lodged a separate complaint that Mr Pacheco was trying to destabilise the polls.
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