Goa Police have registered an FIR against around 300 unidentified protesters who took part in a Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) demonstration in Panaji on 11th October. The rioters were raising anti-Hindu slogans and hurting religious sentiments during a protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
Panaji police inspector Vijaykumar Chodankar said the protesters raised slogans that promote religious disharmony. “During a public protest organised in Panaji, the functionaries and supporters of CJP raised slogans such as ‘Murdabad, Murdabad, Hindutva Murdabad’, thereby promoting religious disharmony and deliberately hurting the religious sentiments of the Hindu community,” he said.
The case has been registered under Sections 196 and 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. These sections deal with promoting enmity between groups and deliberately hurting religious feelings.
Complainant cites video of CJP protest
The FIR was filed by Ramprasad Kelkar, a resident of Taleigao, who cited a video of the 11th October protest circulated on social media.
The things that are taking place all over the country under the banner of the ‘CJP’ (Cockroach Janata Party) are highly condemnable! At the protest which took place at Azad Maidan in Panaji, Goa, the slogan ‘Hinduwad Murdabad’ was openly shouted and songs and posters promoting anti-national forces were displayed. The CJP Hindu Hate Agenda must be exposed! Such anti-Hindu and anti-national behaviour cannot be allowed and an FIR must be filed against Amreen Shaikh as well as all the other offenders, with strict action then being taken! #Arrest_Amreen_Shaikh
— HinduJagrutiOrg (@HinduJagrutiOrg) October 17, 2026
In his complaint, Kelkar said CJP members had organised the demonstration to demand the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the deletion of voters’ names.
Kelkar also said that, according to local media reports, a woman CJP coordinator had sought permission from the North Goa Collector to hold the protest, but the request was rejected.
He added that although the organisers described the demonstration as peaceful, the slogans raised by the protesters suggested an attempt to disturb peace and communal harmony in the area.
Earlier, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the incident was under investigation and that the government would not tolerate attempts to disturb communal harmony in the state.
Police had detained seven protesters for entering Azad Maidan despite the district administration refusing permission for the demonstration. They were later released after the Bombay High Court held a late-evening hearing on 11th October on a habeas corpus petition.
