Team Herald
PANJIM: It was a promise the BJP had made prior to the March 2012 Assembly polls that the alleged loot of Rs 35,000 crore due to illegal mining in the state would be recovered within six months if it came to power. The successive governments have not only failed to recover money but have spent crores instead to investigate the scam.
The Government had appointed a committee of Chartered Accountants to find out the loss to the state exchequer which has cost state over Rs 4.78 crore as per official records. The CAs’ report was prepared and submitted to the government and the proceedings are not concluded while Rs 4.7876634 has been paid to the CAs.
According to sources, approximately Rs 1 crore has been spent on the SIT probe by the government on various fees and legal matters.
It is a hard ground reality that five years down the line, the probe which was commenced by then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and who is now again keen to probe the cases in his second consecutive inning as Chief Minister of Goa.
Justice MB Shah Commission of inquiry into the illegal mining in Goa exposed Rs 35,000 crore scam (report submitted soon after BJP took over reins in Goa in 2012).
Parrikar, the then leader of opposition had left no stone unturned and used various platforms, including the State Legislative Assembly to state that Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 crore scam (Public Accounts Committee report). Post coming to power, contradicted Shah report before Supreme Court on technical grounds which also forced the apex court not to accept the figures.
SIT, which is presently headed by Priyanka Kashyap (IPS), is investigating five cases and six persons have been chargesheeted while three are closed (C-Summary granted by court) and two are sent back to the concerned police stations as they were minor theft cases of total 16 cases.
SIT chief has now handed over the investigation to Police Inspector Dattaguru Sawant replacing Uday Naik.
