Summary:
The site is around 300m from the famous Shree Manguesh Temple in Ponda taluka.In the scuffle, people from both groups manhandled each other and some vehicles were damaged. PONDA: Tension prevailed in Mangueshi after a group of around 100 locals from Mardol and Mangueshi chased away a group of over 300 Margao-based people who attempted to allegedly perform some religious activities on a disputed land in the village on Thursday. However, the locals stated that at least six plots had been sold.Locals also said that a part of the land comes under orchard zone, while the remaining is forest land, and the matter is sub-judice. Following a complaint filed by the group from Margao , the Ponda police rushed to spot and brought the situation under control.Although PI Suraj Halarnkar said that the group had come to sow jowar ( sorghum ) seeds in the area, locals claimed that the group, who had travelled to Mangueshi in 10 cars and bus, has plans to construct a religious structure on the land.“If they had to only perform some normal rituals, what was a need to bring along such a large group of people?” questioned a local.It is alleged that the land owners had sold three plots to members of the group residing in Aquem-Margao..