A man from Candolim in Goa, who has been named as one of the four accused in the case involving Maharashtra Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi’s son Abu Farhan Azmi, on Wednesday (March 5, 2025) alleged that it was the latter who provoked the fight.
The Calangute police have booked Mr. Azmi, a man named Sham accompanying him and local residents Francis Fernandes and his son Zeon Fernandes on charges of a scuffle in a public place and disturbing peace following their altercation in Candolim in North Goa during the intervening night of Monday (March 3, 2025) and Tuesday (March 4, 2025).
The altercation was regarding Mr. Azmi’s comments praising Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
On Wednesday (March 5, 2025), the MLA was suspended from the assembly till the end of the ongoing budget session.
Talking to PTI after recording his statement before the police, Francis Fernandes said the incident took place when his son was returning home after attending a Carnival celebration in Mapusa town on his two-wheeler.
Mr. Azmi, who was driving his car in the front, suddenly turned left without showing an indicator, he said.
“Mr. Zeon questioned Mr. Azmi for his act and following a minor argument between them, left the place. Mr. Zeon then joined the family for a birthday celebration at Candolim and narrated the incident to us. When Mr. Zeon left the party, he saw that Mr. Azmi was waiting with his car next to his bike to restart the argument. Mr. Azmi had already informed the police by that time,” Mr. Francis said.
“The entire family came to the help of Mr. Zeon when they saw that Mr. Azmi was engaged in a verbal fight with him,” he said.
“Mr. Azmi told us that he has a licensed gun in his car,” Mr. Francis said, adding that more people joined them as they are local residents.
“We did not call any mob. Since we are locals, people who knew us and waited in our support as the verbal fight continued,” he said.
When the police arrived at the spot, one of the policemen sat in Mr. Azmi’s car, while Mr. Zeon was pushed into the police van, he said.
“We insisted that justice should be equal to all. That is why we stopped the police from moving their van and insisted that Mr. Azmi should also be made to sit in their vehicle,” he said.
Mr. Francis said that the matter was settled at the police station as both the parties did not want to file complaints against each other.
“The issue got attention when social media started posting the videos, only after that the complaint was lodged by police,” he said.
In the wake of the incident, former actor Ayesha Takia, wife of Abu Farhan Azmi who is a restaurateur and entrepreneur, alleged that hatred for Maharashtra has reached unbelievable heights in Goa, and that her husband and son were “brutally bullied”.
In a series of posts on Instagram Stories on Tuesday (March 4, 2025), Ms. Takia, a former Bollywood actor known for her roles in “Dil Maange More”, “Socha Na Tha” and “Wanted”, said it was her husband who dialed 100 for help but ended up with a complaint against him.
“It was a night of horror for our family up until this morning… Just saw this post and need to share. I will share more in due time… My husband and son were brutally bullied and scared for their life as local Goan goons mobbed, threatened, and tormented them for hours…. They even badly roughed up the police who were called by my husband to protect our son and him,” Ms. Takia posted.
“The hatred for Maharashtra has reached unbelievable heights in Goa…as they repeatedly cursed Farhan and my son for being from Maharashtra and having a big car. The police in turn, have filed a complaint against Farhan when he was the one in fact who dialed 100 for help against the large crowd of almost 150 people,” she added.
In another post on her Instagram stories, Ms. Takia wrote that the family has “video proof and evidence” including CCTV footage that they will share with competent authorities in due course of time.
“We are cooperating with the law enforcement agencies, and we believe in justice of the system and our Indian courts,” she added.
The Goa police in a release on Tuesday said their control room received a call at 11.12 p.m. on Monday (March 3, 2025), informing that a fight was taking place at a supermarket in Candolim (North Goa district).
During the fight, Abu Farhan Azmi reportedly told the rival group that he had a licensed firearm which he was carrying, Calangute police inspector Paresh Naik told PTI. “When police arrived at the scene, it was informed that there was a scuffle between two groups including that of Farhan Azmi’s over a petty matter,” the official said.
The case against all four of them was registered under section 194 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Published – March 05, 2025 06:12 pm IST
