Cops seek Cutbona boat owners help to beef up security

MARGAO: Goa police have sought cooperation from Cutbona boat owners to strengthen coastal security by maintaining vigil on suspicious vessels in the territorial waters and by getting the antecedents of outstation manpower verified.
A police team headed by sub-divisional police officer Margao DySP Mohan Naik and Cuncolim PI Raju Raut Desai, besides Velim sarpanch Melvyn Sanches, recently visited the Cutbona fishing jetty to seek cooperation from boat owners to further strengthen security arrangements at the jetties.
A couple of boat owners, including Cutbona boat owners union vice-president Roosevelt Alemao and Ciabro Alemao brought to the notice of the police team the problems faced by owners vis-a-vis workers hired from states such as Odisha. They pointed out that boat owners had in the past cooperated with the police to fill up verification forms of workers.
The Cutbona boat owners union president Seby Cardozo said that the boat owners have extended their full cooperation to the police to fill up tenant verification forms.
"They have told us to maintain vigil in the sea if we come across movement of any suspicious vessel," he said.
Cardozo, however, said boat owners have asked the authorities to ensure that health officials visit the Cutbona jetty periodically and take care of the health requirements of workers.
"The police have sensitized the boat owners to fill up verification forms of their workers hailing from other states in their own interest and in overall interest of security. The boat owners have expressed their full support to the exercise," DySP Mohan Naik said.