Cong demands judicial probe, accountability

Panaji: Congress on Friday launched a scathing attack on BJP govt and BITS Pilani Goa campus management after toxicology reports allegedly confirmed the presence of narcotics and sedatives in the blood of Rishi Nair, the 19-year-old student who was found dead on campus on Sep 5.

Citing a lack of CCTV surveillance and monitoring mechanisms, opposition leader Yuri Alemao said the institute’s management must be booked for negligence. “We cannot allow our students to succumb to such deaths. This is a complete failure of the Goa police, who are unable to halt the supply of drugs, even in educational campuses,” Alemao said. He further alleged that the police concealed one student death’s in Feb 2024.

State Congress president Amit Patkar said the repeated tragedies reflect criminal negligence and complicity. “How did narcotics enter one of the country’s premier educational campuses? While parents send children here for a bright future, BJP govt’s failures have made Goa a haven for drugs and cartels,” he said.

Congress demanded a judicial inquiry into all student deaths at BITS Pilani Goa, immediate disclosure of postmortem and toxicology reports, accountability of the institute’s management, and a zero-tolerance crackdown on drug cartels “thriving under BJP’s political patronage”.

The party also warned of a statewide agitation with parents, students, and civil society if action was not taken within 15 days. “Every student death is a blot on the conscience of this state,” Congress functionaries said, vowing to fight for justice for the bereaved families.