In a major crack down on Goa’s spiralling land grabbing racket, the Enforcement Direc torate (ED) on Tuesday swooped down on 12 lo cations across the State, including residences in Anjuna and Assagao, as part of an ongoing probe into fraudulent property deals.
One of the searches was carried out at a residence in Vailovado, Anjuna, near the Bhumika Temple, with police teams from Goa and Mumbai assisting the central agency. Among those targeted was the home of a local Panch mem ber. According to sources, investigators seized several docu ments linked to suspect property transactions in the Siolim constituency.
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The raids are part of a wider investigation into illegal land acquisitions, forged deeds and dubious transfers of prime plots — many of them belonging to Goan families now settled abroad. Goa has witnessed a surge in such scams in recent years, with allegations of local officials colluding with land sharks to usurp properties using fraudulent paperwork.
Mounting complaints had prompted the State government to refer cases to central agencies, triggering Tuesday’s coordinated ED action. Officials said the seized records will now be examined to trace financial trails and unmask the beneficiaries of what is being described as one of the most brazen land rackets in the State.
