2 min readPanajiJul 26, 2026 06:40 AM IST
Goa Police Saturday evening detained a man for allegedly carrying a “Free Umar Khalid” placard at a gathering organised to express solidarity with the protests at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and to mark the resignation of former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
According to the police, the incident took place around 7 pm, when people gathered at the Azad Maidan in Panaji were raising slogans. Police said one of the protesters was carrying a placard that read, “Free Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Bhima Koregaon 16”.
A police officer, requesting anonymity, said, “Some local media persons confronted the man carrying the placard. The police personnel, who were stationed at Azad Maidan for the protest, questioned the man and asked him to produce an identity document (ID). The man said he was not carrying an ID.”
Police said to avoid a law-and-order situation, the man was brought to the Panaji police station for “questioning”. In a purported video clip, a police officer could be seen asking them to produce an ID.
Some BJP Yuva Morcha (BJYM) workers staged a sit-in protest outside the Panaji Police Station, demanding that a case be registered against protesters displaying “Free Umar Khalid” placards at the gathering.
Earlier on Wednesday, a protest was held at Azad Maidan in Panaji, after BJP vice-president Narendra Sawaikar had triggered a controversy by putting a post on social media, saying “cockroaches are with termites”. In a post on X Monday night, Sawaikar said: “Cockroaches with the termites! Save the nation!” His post drew criticism from the Opposition parties, who demanded an apology from the BJP leader for using “disgraceful and dehumanising language” to refer to the protesters who had carried out a solidarity march in Panaji Monday.
On Monday evening, hundreds of protesters gathered near the Miramar circle and held a candlelight solidarity march to Azad Maidan against the backdrop of protests by the CJP in Delhi. Goa Police Tuesday night lodged an FIR against the “unknown supporters” of CJP and “protesters” for alleged unlawful assembly and for organising the protest “without obtaining prior permission” from the state authorities.
