Casino staff on a gambling ship off of India’s Goa allegedly attacked government investigators last week after the ship workers mistakenly assumed they were criminals, according to news reports.
The government employees work for India’s Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and were conducting an official investigation on the ship, Casino Pride, which was docked on Goa’s Mandovi River.
Officials Placed in Confinement
Among those assaulted on Thursday were Poluri Chenna Kesava Rao, an ED assistant director, and his team. according to the Hindustan Times. The ED investigators also were ordered by cruise ship staff to remain confined in a room.
The investigators were searching for evidence of money laundering. They interviewed ship employees and seized relevant documents, authorities revealed. Casino staff also allegedly destroyed evidence the investigators had gathered and prevented them from continuing their inquiry.
A formal complaint later was filed with the police in Panaji, the capital of Goa.
During the raid, the casino staff obstructed and stopped ED officials from conducting the searches,” an unnamed police officer was quoted by Inside Asian Gaming. “Some of the casino’s security assumed that some con men were posing as ED officials and trying to dupe them. This led to an argument between them.”
The suspects in the assault were identified by authorities as Ashok Wadia, a casino director, Gopal Ramnath Naik and Arati Raja, who are senior employees, as well as other workers, according to The Indian Express.
Investigators Should Wear Uniforms
When commenting on the incident, The Goan, warned of the risks when investigators aren’t in uniforms while on duty.
The fact that the officials are often in plain clothes does not help their cause. It is seen that even when doing routine enforcement duties like traffic stops police officials are seen in plain clothes, and only the officer issuing the challan [citation] is in uniform,” the article explained.
“While there may be genuine reasons for police and other law enforcement agencies to be in plain clothes, it immediately raises questions about the authenticity of the raid or similar action. In official photographs released by the police to the media, many officers and staff are seen not in uniform making it difficult to tell who are the cops and who are the criminals they are parading.”
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