Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji (SHP)

Panaji, Jul 3: Past few years have documented an insurgence in the number of crimes committed by foreign nationals in comparison to them being victims of crimes. Foreigners are reported to have been involved in more cases relating to drugs, ATM thefts and other criminal activities.

According to police statistics, a total of 262 foreigners were charged for various crimes from 2017-2019 and over 40 cases were registered for crimes committed against them, out of which 12 were accidents.

Goa sees a footfall of seven lac people annually, in the cases registered, Russians and Nigerians have been arrested for drugs, Tanzanians are apprehended for not producing valid documents and Romanians are usually arrested for ATM thefts.

Among the several charges, the foreign nationals have been booked for rape, rioting, assault on a public servant, murder, immoral trafficking, possession and peddling of drugs and thefts to name a few. The arrested are generally from Iran, UK, Israel, Kenya, Russia, Ghana, Tanzania, Germany, Nigeria, Sweden, Uganda, Nepal, Georgia, Italy, Czech Republic, Romania, Afghanistan, French, Jordan, Austrian, Turkey, South Africa, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Yemen and Ivory Coast.

In the wake of an increasing involvement of the foreign nationals in criminal activities, the state government constructed a detention centre in Mapusa on May 29 to incarcerate them. Already three foreigners are serving time at the centre.