Case filed to defame me, party: Mickky

NCP tourism minister, Francisco `Mickky’ Pacheco, said on Friday that he is likely to move the sessions court to seek anticipatory bail on Saturday, as he did not trust the moves of the Congress-led coalition government that “slept over the police complaint against me for nearly four months and suddenly registered an offence”. Pacheco was reacting to the case of extortion, trespass and criminal intimidation registered against him and 11 others by the crime branch on Wednesday.

“There is no case against me. It is a case of political rivalry,” said the minister, adding, “What if they arrest me and make a big hullabaloo tomorrow saying that an NCP minister has been arrested and the electronic media tom-toms the news across the country? Surely, this will amount to maligning the image of my party and myself on the eve of assembly elections in Maharashtra. I cannot take any chances as more than me it is my party’s image that the government can damage and I cannot afford it.”

The minister also asked, “Do investigating authorities take four months to find out if someone has indulged in criminal intimidation and indulged in extortion the two cases that the crime branch has filed against me on the complaints of the management of the casino? It sounds quite ridiculous and clearly indicates the motive of the government which is against me. I have never indulged in any such activities and this is a conspiracy to frame me. The motive is quite clear as the case was slapped against me after I openly declared my closeness to PWD minister, Churchill Alemao and stated that I would withdraw the disqualification petition that I had filed earlier against him and another MLA.”