Panaji: More than 100 people staged a demonstration in Vasco town of South Goa on Thursday, April 23, demanding the immediate arrest of right-wing speaker Gautam Khattar over his alleged derogatory remarks against St Francis Xavier.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said efforts were on to trace Khattar and prevent him from fleeing the country.
The Goa Crime Branch has issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against him and alerted the Bureau of Immigration to prevent him from leaving the country. Police teams are camping in different cities across the country to trace him, as per officials.
‘St Xavier was a terrorist and cruel’
Gautam Khattar, the founder of Sanatan Mahasangh, kicked up a row with his remarks at an event on April 18 in the presence of Swami Brahmeshanand, State Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs Sankulp Amonkar and Daji (Krishna) Salkar.
A viral video of his remarks against Goa’s patron saint sparked protests in various parts of the coastal state, drawing widespread condemnation from political leaders, the Goa Church, and others.
This story was originally published in siasat.com. Read the full story here.