Goa violence: Anjuna resort claims 'no swords used', blames Delhi tourists for misbehaving with staff

After the shocking incident on Sunday in which a tourist family was allegedly attacked with swords and knives in a resort in Goa’s famous Anjuna, the resort management has released a statement narrating the series of events that led to the violence.

"The recent unfortunate events and subsequent media reports have necessitated this statement by Spazio Leisure Resort Management," the resort management said.

𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗖𝗠 𝗦𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁: 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

"At the onset, the hotel management would like to make it clear that we condemn any and all kinds of violence, verbal and physical abuse. We support the statement made by our honorable Chief Minister, Dr. Pramod Sawant, that tourists and locals must not take the law in their own hands and must dial the police for any assistance needed," it further added.

The management said that they are a 12 year old family friendly resort owned and run by a Goan family, with impeccable track record in customer service, safety and security of their guests, substantiated by excellent guest reviews, multiple recognitions and many repeat guests over the years.

𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗺𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆: 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁

"Mr. Ashwani Kumar and members of his group were found violating the hotel NO SMOKING policy (Smoking Hookah) by the swimming pool which is a public area. The said guests were requested by the hotel staff multiple times to stop smoking hookah by the pool, upon which the said guests got verbally abusive using derogatory expletives with the hotel staff," the management added.

The management said that one of the guests even manhandled a hotel staff member by pushing him around and threatened that he leave the hotel immediately, else they want a full refund for spoiling their holiday mood. In order to avoid further disturbance to other guests at their hotel, the hotel supervisor asked the staff member to remain off duty for a said period of time. Later in the evening, the staff member along with his brother returned to the hotel site to collect his mobile charger that he had forgotten and remained on the public road outside the hotel, as per management's statement.

'𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗴𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳, 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗱'

"Mr. Ashwani Kumar was then seen on the CCTV footage cameras heading out to the public road and upon seeing the hotel staff member, started an argument with the staff member and his brother, clicking their photograph which was unwarranted and verbally abusing the boys using derogatory expletives at the top of his voice which attracted the attention of his group members, who all at once came running to the public road from inside the hotel," the statement read.

The management said that Jatin Sharma forcefully pushed the hotel staff member, as clearly seen on the CCTV footage secured from the hotel by the Anjuna Police and Ashwani Kumar's group members joined in and attacked the hotel staff member. Eye witnesses on the public road witnessed Jatin Sharma and his group thrashing the hotel staff member on the roadside gutter, by hitting him with stones and punches.

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

"On witnessing this brutality, many of our hotel staff members and locals intervened to stop the fight by pulling all the parties away, but to no avail. Mr. Jatin Sharma is also seen in one clip of the CCTV footage, removing his gold chain from around his neck and handing it over to his mother before heading out to join the fight again. Unfortunately, this fight ended in both parties being injured. As per video evidence which has been submitted to the Anjuna Police and eye witnesses there were no swords and no local gangs that gathered outside the hotel on the public road, as claimed in media," the statement said.

Ashwani Kumar and his group's claim that the management and staff of Spazio Leisure Resort were uncooperative and did not assist them thereafter and left them high and dry was untrue, the management said, adding that "It was infact the management and staff of Spazio Leisure Resort that were intervening at all stages to stop this argument over NO Smoking hotel policy to blow up into full fledged fight, by first taking the crucial step of requesting the staff member to go off duty for a said period".