11 new history sheets take North Goa total to 135

Panaji: A total of 135 persons involved in alleged criminal activities were declared as history-sheeters in North Goa. This includes the opening of new history sheets against 11 persons.

One among these is Yogesh ‘Mogembo’ Govekar, who is a leader of taxi operators.Taxi operators protested at Anjuna police station after the history sheet was opened against Govekar.The highest number of history-sheeters, police station-wise, are in Old Goa with 23, followed by Calangute (20), Mapusa (17) and Panaji (15). Mopa has only 1 history-sheeter.“One of the new history sheets is open against Yogesh Govekar at Anjuna police station.

He is involved in body offences. Seven cases are registered at Anjuna police station and two are at Calangute,” SP North Rahul Gupta said.Once a history sheet is opened, it becomes easy for police to maintain surveillance on the criminal, police said. “It is a record which has the details of the accused, their family, their associates and their modus operandi.” Police said that once a history sheet is open, it becomes handy for police to dig into their criminal history, thus making it easier to crack crimes.

In 2020, state govt notified the Goa police rules, aimed at regulating the functioning of the police department, including investigation, punishment and appeal matters.Crime records at the district-level were studied, and many individuals who were accused in multiple cases were found fit for opening history-sheets.North Goa district police will continue to maintain surveillance over these individuals so that they don’t indulge in crime again. Our endeavour is to keep society safe and create deterrence in the mind of criminals, Gupta said.