Team Herald
PANJIM: The call for action in the sensational cash-for-jobs scam unfolding across Goa is getting louder, with the Opposition and activists demanding the answer to a simple yet raging question – where have the crores collected by the scam operatives vanished?
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Opposition politicians have demanded that the government appoint a judicial commission headed by a retired High Court Judge to probe the scam.
A rough calculation based on the disclosures of those arrested so far shows that the total amount all of them have collected from gullible job seekers is inching towards Rs 10 crore. More scam victims are coming forward every day with details of the money they have paid. But over two weeks into the investigation, the police have yet to recover any significant amount of money from any of the arrested operatives.
Mardol PI Yogesh Sawant told O Heraldo: “We have recovered assets like cars from the possession of Pooja Naik. But no money has been recovered from her so far.”
There are no details yet of what other arrested queen-pins like Deepashree Sawant and Pooja Yadav have revealed during interrogation.
Speaking on this, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Yuri Alemao said, “A thorough investigation into the cash-for-job racket should uncover who is behind it and where the money trail leads. For the last eight years, those involved were promising candidates jobs by taking advance money. We need to know if this accumulated wealth has been deposited in banks, invested in mutual funds, properties or in businesses. This is the biggest job racket in Goa.”
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state president Adv Amit Palekar said, “The money has surely gone to somebody who is in power. Some jobs have been delivered and some have not been. People being caught are only the scapegoats. The heart of the scam lies somewhere else.” He further stated that this was the reason the BJP was wary of appointing a judicial commission. “Neither the Chief Minister nor the president of the BJP has made any statement. They are making spokespersons say that police are doing a good job. We do not have faith in the police inquiry because big politicians are involved in it,” Palekar added.
Political commentator Trajano D’Mello said, “Goa Police’s investigation is controlled by the government and can’t bring out the truth. Only a judicial inquiry by a retired High Court judge may find out which powerful person was behind these scamsters.”
Congress vice president Sunil Kawthankar said, “BJP functionaries are involved and the job scam cannot be possible without political backing. Some politicians have pocketed money and the ongoing investigation is an eyewash.”
Adv Gajendra Usgaonkar said, “Goa Police’s track record is bad and they are always known for protecting ruling politicians. Culprits are also hand-in-glove with the police.”
Teacher
held as more complaints pour in
Team Herald
PONDA: Close on the heels of Water Resources Department (WRD) engineer Sandeep Parab’s arrest, a schoolteacher was taken into custody on Sunday night for his role in the explosive cash-for-jobs scam.
Yogesh Shenvi Cuncolienkar (50) is from Cuncolim and allegedly duped 20 persons into paying a total Rs 1.2 crore after promising them government jobs. Like Parab, who was a middle-level operative for scam mastermind Deepashree Sawant, Cuncolienkar is reported to be hand-in-glove with a politically influential woman from South Goa, who is another queen-pin in the scam.
Again, like Parab, Cuncolienkar went to the police first to project himself as a victim of the scam on Sunday.
But the tables turned on him a few hours later when Sangam Bandodkar from Bandora complained to the Ponda Police that he had paid Rs 12.5 lakh to Cuncolienkar as an initial amount to secure a job as Deputy Collector in the Revenue Department for his daughter this July. The job, of course, never materialised.
It has emerged after initial investigations that Cuncolienkar approached many of his former students with promises of jobs if they paid amounts ranging between Rs 5-10 lakh or more for posts such as deputy collector, excise inspector, junior engineer, clerks, teachers and more. He is reported to have netted Rs 1.2 crore in this manner. The police have also found that Cuncolienkar would hand over the money to a politically influential woman from South Goa, who is likely to be arrested soon. Cuncolienkar was has been remanded in three days’ police custody.
Meanwhile, Parab was also remanded in three days’ police custody on Monday. Police sources said that Parab would be made the main accused by Mardol police, while Deepashree Sawant would be the co-accused.
Box:
One more arrest in Vasco jobs scam
The Vasco police on Monday arrested Suraj Naik of Chicalim in the cash-for-government-job scam. Naik is the second person to be arrested after Govind Manjrekar, who was picked up on Sunday night. Manjrekar, however, got conditional bail on Monday.
The two arrests followed a complaint by by Sakshi Kerkar of New Vaddem, Vasco, who alleged that she had paid Rs 4.3 lakh to the duo for a promised job in the Directorate of Education between March and May 2023.
BJP lauds Police action, as Cong asks who’s Vishwajit in complaint to dgp
PANJIM: The Congress on Monday filed a complaint with Director General of Police (DGP) Alok Kumar, urging him to find out who is the “Vishwajit” referred to by arrested cash-for-jobs queen-pin Deepashree Sawant.
However, BJP spokesperson Adv Yatish Naik brushed this aside and lauded the police investigation into the scam that has led to many arrests. “The government is firm that nobody should be spared and nobody will be spared. Police are committed to reach the root of the scam,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters after submitting the complaint, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) President Amit Patkar also questioned why so many ministers and MLAs are coming to defend Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Vishwajit Rane when he had said that a person from the Chief Minister’s convoy was involved in the job scam.
“Today we have lodged a formal complaint and demanded an investigation. The accused Deepashre Sawant Gawas has mentioned the name of Vishwajit. Who is this ‘Vishwajit’? It must come out,” Patkar said.
Stating that he is ready and willing for any kind of investigation, Patkar said that attempt was being made to protect persons who are actually involved in the scam.
