Will take action against those opposing Defence Expo: Govt

Panaji, Feb 19: Days after protesters blocked the inspection of a site where Defence Expo is to be held in South Goa next month, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has warned of strict action if government work is disrupted.

"If anyone creates hurdles in hosting of Defence Expo, the state government will have to file FIR against the person. We will not tolerate this high-handedness," he told reporters yesterday in Pernem town on the sidelines of an event.

He said the expo, which is scheduled at Betul village, will be held as decided earlier by the Union Defence Ministry and the state government. "Defence Expo will be held for four days next month and for that temporary structures will be erected which will be removed once the event concludes," Parsekar said.

The event will begin on March 28. Nearly one lakh people have already booked their visit to Goa to attend the expo, he said.

A group of people led by Congress leaders, including the party's Goa unit chief Luizinho Faleiro and legislator Chandrakant Kavlekar, had stopped government officials from conducting an inspection of the site on February 15.

The protesters claimed that the state government did not take them into confidence before finalising the venue to host the expo.

PTI