'Spying' On Bajrang Dal And A Late-Night Transfer — Sunita Sawant Controversy Amid Shifting Cultural Sands Of South Goa

Senior police officer Sunita Sawant until recently served as the superintendent of police (SP) in South Goa. She took charge of the district a year ago, in February 2024. On 27 January 2025, however, she was transferred to the police headquarters with immediate effect.

While Sawant's transfer is being explained as a 'routine administrative exercise,' the police officer suspects that a new cultural force may have pushed the Goa Chief Minister's Office (CMO) to send the late-night message relieving her from her duty in South Goa.

Local media reports from Goa are linking the decision to one Sanket Arsekar, an aide of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.

The allegations also involve Arsekar's links to the Bajrang Dal — Sawant was allegedly gathering intelligence about the organisation.

Who is Sanket Arsekar?

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) political opponents, mainly the Congress and the Goa Forward Party, have blamed the CMO for the decision on Sawant and said the officer paid the price ultimately for her honest work.

“The moment an officer starts doing her duty — gathering information about Bajrang Dal leaders — the BJP government panics and removes her,” said Congress state president Amit Patkar.

Behind the transfer decision, the opposition alleges, is Sanket Arsekar, a close aide of Chief Minister Sawant and a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionary responsible for the rise of the Bajrang Dal in the state.

Although his political opponents have described him as a 'non-entity,' Arsekar's rise within the BJP ecosystem has not been sudden. For the last decade or so, Arsekar has silently worked behind the scenes and emerged as an important aide to the leadership in Goa. Arsekar's rise coincides with the rise of the Bajrang Dal in the state.

The Bajrang Dal's rise in Goa is rather recent and can be formally traced back to 2023, when its activities were first announced in the state.

According to media reports, the creation of a Bajrang Dal unit in Goa led to 150 shakas being established in no time, thanks to Arsekar.

Notably, Goa has a relatively low Hindu population in comparison to other states, with their numbers at 64.68 per cent, the Christians at 29.86 per cent, and the Muslims at 5.25 per cent of the state's total population.

The Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), has an aim to introduce a cultural and ideological change in the state, thereby also reshaping Goa's political narrative.

Arsekar, for that matter, has also been a part of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) since 2007.

Bajrang Dal activists close to Arsekar say he has been a part of the BJP ecosystem for a long time now. He was involved in former chief minister, the late Manohar Parrikar's Parivartan Yatra in 2011 and also grew close to CM Sawant over time.

But his political opponents, such as Vijai Sardesai of the Goa Forward Party, call Arsekar a 'non-entity' who is influencing the state's politics.

Transfer on Whose Orders?

While the CMO and the BJP's party affiliates are ducking the question of the transfer, they are raising a different important question:

If, as the reports say, Sunita Sawant was indeed gathering information on the Bajrang Dal, what was the reason behind that decision, and did she receive any orders to formally go ahead with it?

On the condition of anonymity, a senior VHP functionary said SP Sawant had been obstructing their activities and trying to contain their presence in South Goa.

"She has not handled issues effectively in the past. Her track record speaks for itself. Look at how Amit Naik's infamous attack was handled, or, for that matter, the Francis Xavier controversy, which blew out of proportion," an individual who is close to the senior BJP leadership in the state said.

Naik, a police constable, had helped a criminal flee from custody last year. He had personally taken the notorious criminal Siddiquee to Karnataka's Hubballi.

As far as the Xavier controversy goes, the law and order situation went out of hand after comments about Goa’s patron saint, St Francis Xavier, were made by former state RSS chief Subhash Velingkar.

Insiders tell Swarajya on the condition of anonymity that the transfer decision was long-pending as the officer was given a long run despite several goof-ups.

"How can she side with the opposition leaders and use their resources and media networks to attack the state government?" a Bajrang Dal leader asked.

According to this leader, SP Sawant had also objected to the Geeta Jayanti programme — one of the largest religious gatherings in Goa organised by the Bajrang Dal, where among the dignitaries present was BJP leader T Raja Singh from Hyderabad.

"The celebrations did not lead to any communal tensions. Then what was the issue?" he asks.

"After she took up her duty here, she instructed her police officers to monitor the VHP and the Bajrang Dal. Look at the (VHP) event in Curchorem for example, where she rejected permission for it to be organised despite getting the necessary approvals. Later, we had to get it (the permission) using political interference," he adds.

So, What Now?

Sources close to the Goa CMO suggest that the transfer cannot be withdrawn even if they chose to do so, since she "behaved unprofessionally by narrating the story to news agencies and siding with the opposition to take the matter to the media."

"Now that the sympathy card has failed, I hope she realises that an officer is not supposed to behave this way," an individual said on the condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Tikam Singh Verma has taken over Sawant's place in South Goa. Verma was serving as the SP of the anti-narcotics cell in his earlier role.

The Bajrang Dal has strongly refuted allegations of political interference and undue influence in Goa’s law enforcement. The outfit maintains that it is being wrongfully targeted for its work to preserve Hindu culture and protect the interests of the majority community.

According to its leaders, the claims made by the opposition and sections of the media are attempts to malign a nationalist organisation that operates within the legal framework. They assert their activities are legal, peaceful, and aligned with the constitutional right to freedom of association.