ED team assaulted on offshore Cruise Casino Pride in Goa; staffers booked

A team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was allegedly assaulted by the staff of an offshore casino vessel in Goa, police said on Saturday.

Police on Friday registered a case against the director, two senior staffers of Cruise Casino Pride, and a few others for the incident that occurred on December 12, an official said.

According to the complaint lodged at Panaji police station, the staff of the offshore casino vessel allegedly assaulted Poluri Chenna Kesava Rao, an assistant director of ED, and his team and confined them in a room while they were searching the premises on Thursday afternoon, the official said.

He said casino director Ashok Wadia, senior staffers Gopal Ramnath Naik, Arati Raja and a few others were involved in the assault.

The accused threatened to cause injury to the complainant and his team and wrongfully confined them in a room while they were discharging their lawful duty in an official capacity, a spokesperson from the Goa police said.

He said the ED has also accused the casino director and staff of destroying the evidence they had collected during their search at the casino in connection with a money laundering case.