MARGAO: Police have recovered the remaining Rs 8 lakh, of the Rs 16 lakh cash that two government officials on election duty allegedly extorted from two tourists from Delhi last week.
Sunita Sawant, Superintendent of Police South Goa, announced that cash totalling Rs 8 lakh has been seized from Yashwant Singh Krishnia, 64, a businessman from Jairam Nagar, Dabolim, at his factory premises named Classic Marble and Granites, located in Sancoale Industrial Estate.
SP Sawant stated that the police have now recovered the entire sum of Rs 16 lakh connected with the case – the Verna police had recovered the other half from the two government staffers, Nitesh Navnath Naik and Aniruddha Baburao Pawar, who had returned Rs 4 lakh each on Thursday.
Verna police had booked the two under Sections 419, 384 read with 34 of IPC following a complaint from Ashok Choudhary alleging cheating by impersonation and extortion. The police also issued a notice to the marble factory owner Yashwant Singh Krishnia under the Criminal Procedure Code, summoning him to the police station for inquiry, said Verna PI Melson Colaco.
According to the complaint, Choudhary, a businessman from Kavi Nagar, Ghaziabad, UP, was allegedly extorted of Rs 16 lakh by Nitesh Naik, 34, of Vasco, and other officials of the Flying Squad team who impersonated Income Tax Department officials on March 31, near Vales Junction, Sancoale.
Nitesh Naik, a LDC working in Goa Electricity Department, and Aniruddha Pawar, a Municipal Officer in Vasco Municipality Corporation, were both deputed for Election duty at the time of the incident, according to the police. Two policemen, head constable Vinayak Shridhar and constable Anand S Naik of Vasco Railway Police Station, have been suspended in connection with the case, as they reportedly failed to inform their higher-ups despite knowing about the extortion.
During interrogation, Nitesh Naik disclosed that Chandan Yadav, who runs an eatery, tipped them off about the complainant carrying the large amount in cash. The other accused, Keshav Khavnekar, was driving the car used to intercept the complainant’s vehicle under the pretext of an Election Code of Conduct check. He was arrested as well.
Police further stated that Chandan Yadav was following the car GA-06-T-5530. Naik revealed that he had handed over Rs 8 lakh to Yadav while travelling to Vasco, and Yadav returned the cash to them near Banarasi Hotel, Vasco.
Following their arrest, all accused filed a bail application before JMFC, Vasco and were granted conditional bail. The court ordered their release upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs 20,000 with one surety in a like amount.
