Naval officer using security pretext to take control of Goa's

A Congress MP from Goa today took exception to the reported statement made by a top Navy officer that certain islands off the Goa coast pose security threat and cautioned the state government against "falling prey" to the security concern, saying it was intended to take control over precious land.
At Navy Day celebrations yesterday, Flag Officer for Goa Naval area Rear Admiral Puneet Bhal said the islands off Goa were critical for security purposes.
"These days, threat perception has increased manyfold. Anybody can come with shoulder-launch missiles or surveillance and can know our movements by sitting on the island," Bhal had said.

Shantaram Naik, a Rajya Sabha member from Congress, cautioned the Goa government from falling prey to the security angle put forth by the Navy and said that some years back, some real estate developers had made inquiries about making use of these islands to construct holiday homes on those islands.
"The defence ministry had obtained Anjadive Islands off the coast of Goa, on grounds of security, many years back, and despite the written agreement, the Defence Ministry made a u-turn on the agreement and stopped permitting members of Christian community to offer prayers there twice a year, as agreed," he said.

"If the apprehension is that terrorist can fire shoulder missiles from these islands, such missiles can be fired from any part of the coastal area of the State and, in fact, it is easier to detect any such terrorists operating on any of these island, where there is no population at all, than the places in Goa which are thickly populated," Naik said.