Betalbatim gram sabha turns tense, after Miccky questions deployment of police

Tense atmosphere prevailed at the Betalbatim gram sabha on Wednesday. Former Nuvem MLA Mickky Pacheco and Betalbatim Sarpanch Costancio Miranda were involved in verbal duel over presence of police in plain clothes at the gram sabha.

Mickky took objection to this and questioned why police are being deployed in civil dress.

The police were later told to leave the venue and gram sabha proceeded peacefully.

Mickky was vociferous and wondered whether the police were brought to intimidate the people or suppress their voice.

He demanded that gram sabha should be carried out without police protection and the police should asked to leave. This led to verbal spat between Mickky and Sarpanch.

After a lot of hue and cry, police were told to leave. After the gram sabha was over, Sarpanch told reporters that deploying police is a normal practice.

The Betalbatim gram sabha later discussed issues such as development of football ground and garbage created by hotel project.

The Sarpanch also tabled panchayat budget before gram sabha.