By IANS
Panaji: After stumbling upon a madrasa functioning within a guest house in the port town of Vasco, the Goa police Tuesday took nearly 88 female students and six teachers from the seminary to the police station for verification, a police official said.
A police official claimed that the madrasa was functioning in a guest house called ‘Pravasi Niwas’ in Vasco town. The police accidentally stumbled upon it during a tenant verification drive, which was initiated after the 26/11 terror strikes in Mumbai.
“When we learnt about the madrasa, we wanted to carry out verification of the students who were put up there. But we were not allowed to go in,” claimed Vasco Sub-Divisional Police Officer Deu Benaulikar.
Benaulikar said the madrasa management was then warned that the verification was essential and were asked to report to the Vasco police station under police escort.
“There were 88 women and six teachers who were picked up for verification,” Benaulikar said.
Goa Inspector General of Police Kishen Kumar told reporters that the verification process was peaceful and that all the 88 women and the teachers were released immediately in the evening after the police recorded their personal details.
The incident, however, triggered muted outrage in the Muslim community residing in Vasco.
In a series of raids over the last few weeks, the police have arrested nearly 1,000 people residing illegally in the state from various slums, as part of a security measure in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks.