Find 'ingenious ways' to handle desecrations: Goa Governor to DGP

Appealing for calm following the recent spate of religious desecrations, Goa Governor Mridula Sinha on Tuesday exhorted the Director General of Police (DGP) to come up with "ingenious ways" to tackle the menace and bring the culprits to book.

"Such acts warrant zero-tolerance on the part of police and administration and stringent and full measures must be taken to bring the culprits behind bars. The police must devise ingenious ways to handle such alarming situations.

"At the same time, the people of Goa should remain vigilant so that such acts are not repeated," Sinha said in a statement here.

The statement comes in the wake of a series of desecrations of Catholic and religious symbols, including an incident on Monday when several Catholic crosses were smashed and grave-stones broken at a cemetery in South Goa's Curchorem town, located 45 km from state capital Panaji.

Appealing to Goans to be vigilant and maintain calm and peace, Sinha described the desecrations as "mindless acts of religious vandalism", adding that such acts were clearly aimed at breaking the communal fabric of Goan traditional society.

"As the head of the state, I have asked the DGP to act swiftly in the matter and bring the perpetrators to book immediately," Sinha said.

--IANS

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