<p>Panaji: Three weeks after he was attacked in the city, activist Rama Kankonkar on Saturday said he suspected that Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte were behind the incident, an allegation Sawant vehemently denied.</p>.<p>Kankonkar was trying to sensationalise and politicise the matter, the chief minister told reporters.</p>.Goa eyes to ban glass liquor bottles near beaches amid complaints of injury due to broken shards: CM Pramod Sawant.<p>The activist was attacked on a city street on September 17 by a group of persons. Police subsequently arrested seven people.</p>.<p>Speaking to the media after he was discharged from the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Kankonkar said, "If you ask me whom suspect, I would name Home Minister (Sawant) and Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte." He would make a detailed statement before a Judicial Magistrate, Kankonkar said, demanding a court-monitored investigation.</p>.<p>Reacting to the statement, Sawant said his government was serious about investigating the attack.</p>.<p>"We have arrested everyone involved in the case. His (Kankonkar's) statement is already on record. The (latest) statement given by him was to sensationalise the issue by trying to involve the names of politicians," the chief minister said.</p>.<p>"People know me, I am in politics for the last 25 years. I am not here to do such petty things. A thorough investigation is being done in the case," he added.</p>.<p>Sawant also questioned why Kankonkar did not make the claim in his earlier, recorded statement.</p>.<p>Congress leader Girish Chodankar said in a post on X that both Sawant and Khaunte should step down to ensure a fair and transparent investigation. "I demand a judicial enquiry and immediate resignation of both ministers," he added.</p>.<p>Goa AAP president Amit Palekar said that an independent authority like the CBI should find out what was the real original statement.</p>.<p>The CM should step aside and the investigation should be handed over to central authorities, he demanded. </p>
<p>Panaji: Three weeks after he was attacked in the city, activist Rama Kankonkar on Saturday said he suspected that Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte were behind the incident, an allegation Sawant vehemently denied.</p>.<p>Kankonkar was trying to sensationalise and politicise the matter, the chief minister told reporters.</p>.Goa eyes to ban glass liquor bottles near beaches amid complaints of injury due to broken shards: CM Pramod Sawant.<p>The activist was attacked on a city street on September 17 by a group of persons. Police subsequently arrested seven people.</p>.<p>Speaking to the media after he was discharged from the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Kankonkar said, "If you ask me whom suspect, I would name Home Minister (Sawant) and Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte." He would make a detailed statement before a Judicial Magistrate, Kankonkar said, demanding a court-monitored investigation.</p>.<p>Reacting to the statement, Sawant said his government was serious about investigating the attack.</p>.<p>"We have arrested everyone involved in the case. His (Kankonkar's) statement is already on record. The (latest) statement given by him was to sensationalise the issue by trying to involve the names of politicians," the chief minister said.</p>.<p>"People know me, I am in politics for the last 25 years. I am not here to do such petty things. A thorough investigation is being done in the case," he added.</p>.<p>Sawant also questioned why Kankonkar did not make the claim in his earlier, recorded statement.</p>.<p>Congress leader Girish Chodankar said in a post on X that both Sawant and Khaunte should step down to ensure a fair and transparent investigation. "I demand a judicial enquiry and immediate resignation of both ministers," he added.</p>.<p>Goa AAP president Amit Palekar said that an independent authority like the CBI should find out what was the real original statement.</p>.<p>The CM should step aside and the investigation should be handed over to central authorities, he demanded. </p>