A lapse so basic it borders on the absurd briefly turned the Modern Jail, Colvale into a revolving door, allowing a high-pro file accused in Goa’s cash for-government-jobs scam to simply walk out — cour tesy of an avoidable clerical blunder. Alleged kingpin Pooja Naik was erroneously re leased after securing bail in one case, despite remaining under judicial custody in multiple others — a critical oversight that went unno ticed until the next morn ing’s headcount.
The breach came to light only when prison staff re alised Naik was missing during routine prisoner verification. By then, the accused had already spent hours outside custody. Authorities rushed to con tain the fallout, contacting her and directing her to return. She complied, but not before the episode raised troubling questions about checks at the Col vale jail.
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Officials conceded that the release should never have been processed. The error, sources indicated, stemmed from a failure to verify the full extent of Naik’s remand status across cases before execut ing the release order. The process was handled by Deputy Superintendent of Jails Mukund Gawas, who was subsequently is sued a show-cause notice. In his response, Gawas ad mitted to the lapse. Despite the gravity of the breach, he was let off with a warning memo — a decision likely to invite scrutiny given the high stakes involved. Even after Naik returned to the prison, there was a delay in re-admitting her to the cell as formalities were completed, further under scoring procedural gaps in handling such critical situations.
Naik continues to remain in judicial custody in con nection with multiple cases, including the high-value job scam and two cheque bounce cases, as investigations and court proceedings progress. In the wake of the incident, Inspector General of Pris ons K R Chaurasia visited the facility and is learnt to have initiated an inquiry to determine how such a lapse went undetected until after the accused had already walked out. The episode is particularly significant given the scale of the alleged fraud. The Goa Police have so far attached as sets worth Rs 4.40 crore linked to Naik, intended for res titution to victims of the scam — a case that has already shaken public confidence.
