Goa casino brawl video goes viral, Congress demands probe

Panaji, May 22 (IANS) A day after a video clipping went viral on the social media, the Goa Congress on Tuesday accused the state government of allowing the casino industry's writ to run large in the coastal state.

The video clipping showed a casino employee and a customer engaged in a brawl on a road.

State Congress Spokesperson Siddhanath Buyao said that while the coalition government was busy cracking down on small street kiosks, it was allowing casino operators to take law in their hands.

"The video shows how the casino industry has not just taken Panaji, but the whole of Goa to ransom. Their employees are brutally assaulting people on the streets and yet no police complaint is registered against casino operators for assault," Buyao told reporters in Panaji, demanding a probe into the fracas.

"The irony is that kiosks run by the common man are demolished without mercy, while all the mercy of the state administration and police is reserved for casino operators," he added.

A Goa Police Spokesman, however, said that neither the casino operator nor the victim had reported the matter to the North Goa district police.

There are seven offshore casinos and nine onshore casinos in the state.