Atala gets local ‘help’
The fuss over Atala's Aadhaar, a new front in the battle for Mhadei and the promise of house repair permissions in three days, this and more in this week's edition
The heat is on and so is the humidity. And as cashew season turns to mango season, so does ‘Lent’ turn to ‘Holy Week’ — the most sombre time of the year for those religious minded. But elsewhere, it’s business as usual as teachers gave a poor account of themselves at a refersher programme, while a Nigerian got away in a drugs case after claiming that he had nothing to do with the SIM card issued in his name while Suchana Seth, the CEO of a Bengaluru based AI-start up was booked for allegedly assaulting a lady constable at the Colvale jail, a move she says was provoked by the constable harassing her first.
Welcome to yet another edition of Gerard’s Gazette, a weekly newsletter, in which I attempt to break down the events of the week gone by, offer a bit of context, as well as a dose of news behind the news.
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There’s only one place to start.
Atala gets local ‘help’
It’s a name that, if you are of a certain vintage, you might be already familiar with. By certain vintage, I mean 35+. There was a time, more than 15 years ago, when there were two names that were all the rage – Atala and Dudu.
Their real names were Yaniv Benaim and David Driham, respectively, and together the two Israeli nationals were at the centre of the then Goa police-drug peddler nexus case – a case that is still being prosecuted by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
What was the Goa police-drug peddler nexus case? There are two main events that define it – one involving Atala and the other involving Dudu.
Dudu first. Dudu was arrested by the Anti Narcotics Cell of the Goa Police allegedly after a ‘raid’ on his house uncovered the presence of drugs, including ecstasy, heroin, cocaine, LSD and charas, all worth Rs 3.81 lakh. But that was just the beginning of the story. Dudu’s sister Ayala soon later conducted a sting operation on the cops in which sleuths of the Anti Narcotics Cell were seen demanding bribes, failing which they would threaten to plant drugs on their potential victims and have them arrested.
Dudu, Ayala said, was arrested using a similar modus operandi. After her sting operations caused a stir, the Central Bureau of Investigations took over the case. There was a Congress government in Goa back then, and the scandal, which came only a few years after the Goa police's infamous botching up of the Scarlett Keeling death case, only served to further dent the image of the force.
The Central Bureau of Investigations found out that drugs were indeed planted on Dudu. Call records of the seven cops who were arrested in the case revealed that they were chilling at Anjuna when they claimed to have received a tip-off at the ANC police station that drugs were at Dudu’s home.
The last I heard of this case was in November last year, when the High Court quashed charges against the cops for allegedly planting drugs on Dudu.
Atala’s case too involves a woman. His then-girlfriend and Swedish model Lucky Mangrada alias Farmhouse, using a spycam, videos of which were later uploaded to the internet, exposed his links to the Goa Police insiders, who were sourcing drugs for him from within the police malkhana. The videos also claimed that a certain Roy Naik was involved in the drug trade. This meant pressure on then Home Minister Ravi Naik, whose son is named Roy Naik.
So, why are we talking about it now?
Last week, on April 5, Atala was arrested by the Goa Police, this time for possession of narcotics. Believe it or not, it actually was the first time since the ‘notorious drug lord’ was arrested for possession of narcotics.
But that’s not the most interesting part of the story so far. It came to light during the past week that Atala had an Aadhaar card. The police seemed to think this was unusual, with Superintendent of Police (ANC) Tikam Singh Verma telling the reporters who lap up every word that they will be probing as to how Atala managed to get an Aadhaar card. The allegation was that Atala was staying in Goa without any valid documents (he allegedly was in possession of three separate Israeli passports) and that the Aadhaar card helped him towards that end.
The journalists too thought it was unusual and ran with ‘breaking news’ that Atala was in possession of an Aadhaar card, like it was a more serious offence than the drugs that were found in his possession. Even the leader of the opposition – a lawmaker himself – seemed to think that Atala having an Aadhaar card was a problem.
It probably was just me then who was left scratching my head trying to figure out what exactly the problem was!
You see, foreigners are entitled to apply for Aadhaar cards. A simple Google search will tell you that for a foreigner to be eligible for an Aadhaar card, one needs to have spent at least 182 days in India in the preceding 12 months before applying for an Aadhaar card. The Aadhaar website makes it quite clear that there is no ban on foreigners applying for Aadhaar cards, nor did I find anything specific that says Israeli nationals cannot apply for Aadhaar cards.
Am I missing something here? Or is it that everyone from lawmakers to cops and journalists does not seem to know the law and just run with whatever they imagine to be the law?
In fact, if you, like me, have visited an Aadhaar enrolment centre in the state, it is not uncommon to see foreigners queuing up to enrol for Aadhaar cards.
The cops have now decided that they will approach the High Court after UIDAI refused to disclose what documents Atala used as proof to get an Aadhaar card. Given his long history with the state, it should come as no surprise that he would have no problem proving he was a long-time resident of the state.
So, what’s all the fuss about, then?
House repair permission in three days?
Last year Goa received its heaviest monsoons in more than 100 years or since counting began. And it brought with it an unprecedented number of house collapses. In Mandur, a 70-year-old woman and her 51-year-old son were killed after their house fell on them during an especially heavy wet spell.
In Fatorda, a teenager was killed after the house he was living in collapsed on him. Another two families had a lucky escape since their house collapsed at a time when there was no one in the house.
And so, this time round, the Goa government is attempting to make it easier for people to repair their houses. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced that permissions for house repair would be processed by the panchayat secretaries within a period of three days, failing which, the permission would be ‘deemed’ to have been granted.
There are, of course, a few conditions. The permission being sought must be for a single dwelling unit, the house tax will need to have been fully paid, and the person applying for the permission must be the one paying the house tax.
It is, of course, easier said than done. If people’s houses are in disrepair, often it is not just the lack of permission that is holding the occupants back. Sometimes it is a lack of funds; at other times it is a dispute between two sides of the same family; in yet other situations it is the landlord who is setting up the roadblocks.
The good thing about Sawant’s latest order is that it isn’t necessary that you need the approval of all the people whose names are listed on Form I & I&XIV while seeking a house repair permission from your local panchayat, provided you are not increasing the plinth of your house. But the rest of the hurdles remain.
Hopefully at least some people can benefit.
Khanapur finds its voice
And finally, as you may have heard, the people of Khanapur and surrounding villages have raised their voice against the Kalasa Banduri Nala project.
What’s special is that this is possibly the first time that people on the Karnataka side of the border have spoken against the project. Their opposition is not new. The locals were always apprehensive about the costs they would have to face on account of the project, but unfortunately, their voices were usually drowned out by larger, louder farmer groups who have been protesting in favour of the project.
The meeting that was held in Khanapur earlier this week was not massive by any standards and was conveniently ignored by most of the political class in the state. But what it did do was remind people that this isn’t really a Goa vs Karnataka issue. There are people within Karnataka too who oppose the project – especially those living in the villages directly affected by the project.
Their concerns, as elaborated in a memorandum they submitted before the deputy commissioner of the district, are primarily environmental in nature. The villagers, who are primarily farmers engaged in rain-fed agriculture, fear that the water-rich sub-district may soon be stripped bare of its natural resources for the benefit of other parts of the state.
“This project is destined to cause irreversible damage through forest destruction and fragmentation in this eco-sensitive area. It will have far-reaching adverse and devastating effects on the local microclimate, environment, and rainfall, leading to an acute shortage of water in the Mahadayi-Malaprabha catchment areas. And adversely impacting the livelihood of the people of this region,” the villagers said in their memorandum.
Will their protest make a difference? The Karnataka government has, over the years, built dams, pretty much brushing aside all opposition from its citizens. The Kali River, for example, which meets the sea at Karwar, has six major hydroelectric dams before it reaches the sea, which collectively submerge 32,000 acres of Western Ghats forests. Further south, the Sharavathi River, which meets the sea at Honnavar, has three major dams.
The only reason why the Mandovi River has not met with a similar fate is because the people of Goa have a voice. The same can’t be said of the people of Khanapur or of Uttara Kannada, who have had to live with dams along their rivers whether they like it or not.
Meanwhile in another part of Karnataka, people are unhappy and quite vocal about it all.
That’s all I have for you this week. Make sure you comment or write in, should you have something, anything to say.
I would also invite you to contribute via sending in your views, especially on a subject you know something about, and I will be happy to include it as part of the newsletter.
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Until next week, then. Tchau!
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