By IANS,
Panaji : In a sudden crackdown on beach-side rave parties Sunday night, the Goa police arrested four persons including a German and a Russian national.
“We arrested a German and a Russian, who are notorious for holding such parties in the beach belt,” Mapusa Police Inspector C.L. Patil told IANS Monday.
The rave parties were being organised in the North Goa beach belt at Pernem, despite the ban on beach-side congregations following threats of a possible terror attack in Goa.
The police raided three such party sites in Junaswada at Mandrem beach, Vitthaldaswada and Gawdewala at Morjim beach following complaints by residents.
The police have also arrested rave party organizer Hitesh Gawde along with another local in connection with the case. While the police are unwilling to disclose names of the foreigners involved in the offence, the two will be brought before a magistrate Monday.
They have presently been booked for playing loud music beyond the stipulated hours which is 10 p.m. in Goa.
Police sources informed that 24-hour rave parties were the norm of the day even when the terror alert was at its peak and that the Pernem police were turning a blind eye to such parties, which are notorious for drug abuse.
Goa’s infamous rave party scene has shifted from the more popular coastal areas like Anjuna and Vagator to the relatively remote beaches along the state’s northern coast which are far from public glare.