PANAJI, June 18 -- Opposition leaders in Goa on Thursday criticised the state police for detaining villagers who were protesting against a mega residential project in north Goa's Carapur Sarvan, saying the state's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was using the same dictatorial practices as the Portuguese to suppress people's voices.

The police action took place in Panaji, near a function marking the state's Goa Revolution Day, which commemorates a public meeting held in Margao in 1946, during which freedom fighter Ram Manohar Lohia issued a clarion call for liberation from the Portuguese.

Opposition leaders such as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal also joined the protesters to demand that the government issue...