The perils of a CBI probe
On 6 May 2008, the Goa government issued a notification seeking to transfer to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the case of Scarlet Keeling, the British teenager who died in February on Anjuna Beach, in a suspected case of rape and murder. The same notification also sought a CBI probe into the attack (and its aftermath) on the Panjim Police Station, allegedly by present Education Minister (then an MLA) Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate and his supporters, which also happened in February 2008.
The Scarlet Keeling case was transferred to the CBI because of persistent allegations by the victim’s mother that the Goa police was biased. She claimed Home Minister Ravi Naik’s son Roy was ‘involved’ with drug traffickers who were responsible for her daughter’s death. The Police Station attack case was referred to the CBI because Mr Monserrate alleged that he, along with his wife and son, were beaten up by the police after the attack. He alleged that the Goa Police had ransacked his houses at Miramar, destroyed property, damaged cars and stolen jewellery, cash and credit cards. Mr Monserrate had moved the High Court demanding that the case be handed over to the CBI.
Expressing lack of trust in the local police or making allegations of bias and demanding that cases be investigated by the CBI is very common among Goa’s politicians. The latest demand, made just a few days ago, was by activist group Utt Goenkara, which demanded that the investigation into NRI Chef Cipriano Fernandes’s death in police custody be handed over to the CBI.
But the results aren’t always what one expects, as the result of both the above probes shows. In the Scarlet Keeling case, after months of investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet in which the accused were exactly the same as those identified by the Goa Police. The charges were no different.
In the probe into the attack on the Panjim Police Station, the CBI has concluded that the injuries Education Minister Babush Monserratte, his wife Jennifer and others sustained were not from assault in police custody, but suffered as a result of scuffles at the time of their arrest. The CBI has also rubbished the allegations of theft by police at Mr Monserrate’s Miramar house. It says there was no damage to the drawer where the allegedly stolen jewellery was kept. It has nixed charges that police damaged cars parked near the house.
Since both these probes were handed over to the CBI at the instance of the alleged victims or their near and dear ones expressing a lack of confidence in the local police force, they now have absolutely no room left for complaint. A body directly controlled by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), over which the state government, its ministers or its police have absolutely no influence or leverage, has probed these matters and delivered its findings. What can they say now…?
All those who are so quick to ask for a CBI probe had now better think twice.
Talasha thrills
She is India’s fastest swimmer. Seventeen-year-old Talasha Prabhu grabbed the gold medals in the 50-metre and 100-metre freestyle events in the National Games at Jharkhand, defeating the awesome Richa Mishra of Delhi, who bagged 11 individual gold medals, to equal the record set by Nisha Millet more than a decade ago. In fact, it was Talasha who put paid to her bid to overhaul that record. Superb!
Talasha is supported by the Dempo Sports Foundation. It shows how judicious and sustained corporate sponsorship can give remarkable results.
