''Police never supported drug trade when BJP was in power''

Panaji, Jan 30 (PTI) Daring the Congress-led governmentto prove involvement of their leaders in the drug trade,Bharatiya Janata Party today conceded that drug menace didexist even when they ruled over Goa for five years but it wasnever supported by the police.

"We never said that the drugs menace was not there duringour tenure. We never denied that there were no drugs in Goa,"BJP Goa unit spokesman Rajendra Arlekar told reporters today.

He said that even though the problem of drugs was there,stern action against the culprits was taken unlike the currentHome Ministry which has shut its eyes towards the menace.

The party spokesman was reacting to the statement by HomeMinister Ravi Naik yesterday alleging that the then ChiefMinister Manohar Parrikar supported drug peddlers and drugmenace prevailed even in the BJP rule.

BJP ruled Goa from October 24, 2000 to February 02, 2005before being toppled by few legislators on the floor of thehouse.

"If they have any evidence against Parrikar than whydon�t they arrest him?, he questioned.

Arlekar said that the Home Minister was makingirresponsible media statements after being caught in the muckin the drugs nexus case.

"He is not competent to be the Home Minister. Wereiterate our demand that he should step down," the BJP leadersaid adding the Goa government should come clean on the drugsissue. .

"They should also clarify about Home Minister and his son, Roy Naik�s involvement in the nexus," Arlekar said.

Naik has run into controversy after Swedish modelLucky Farmhouse, former girlfriend of Israeli drug lord YanivBenaim alias Atala, stated that his son, Roy Naik, wasfrequenting to their place.

The Home Minister on Saturday had flatly refused hisson�s involvement in the drug trade and said that there wasone Roy Fernandes, involved in drug trade, who was beingmistaken for his son.