The shadow of Goa’s land grab scams has deep ened, with the comunidade of Assagao al leging that its property has been targeted in the high-stakes fraud. Accord ing to the body, nearly 1.54 lakh square metres of land has been encroached upon through forged and tampered records, pointing to a methodical operation that mirrors scams already under probe across the State. Addressing a press confer ence, Attorney Nelson Fer nandes, representing the Assagao comunidade, warned of a systematic conspiracy to usurp community-owned land. “We want to highlight the fraud that has been com mitted in Assagao. The same modus operandi is being used here as in other parts of Goa — forging documents, doc toring old records, tearing out pages. It’s the same group of fraudsters behind this,” he said. 1.54 lakh sqm of land grabbed, alleges Assagao comunidade Vows full support to ED probe as investigators expose larger State-wide land grab fraud Fernandes alleged that Yashwant Sawant, already a prime accused in multiple land grab cases, is linked to at least four fraudulent transactions connected to Assagao. He also drew at tention to the legitimate allocation of 50,900 square metres of land to a charitable trust running a technical institute, suggest ing that this property too was being eyed by the network of forgers.
The Assagao Comunidade has thrown its weight behind the ongoing probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is investigating land grabs tied to Sawant and his as sociates. “We are very happy with the investigation carried out by the Enforcement Directorate. Whatever support, help, or documents they require, we are ready to provide. Our sole aim is to protect our property at all costs,” Fer nandes affirmed. The allegations come close on the heels of extensive search operations carried out by the ED on September 9 and 10, spanning 13 residential and commercial premises across Goa and Hyderabad. The raids — part of a high-pro file probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 — yielded Rs 72 lakh in cash, seven luxury vehicles and volumes of incriminating documents.
The case originally stemmed from a Goa Police FIR over the illegal acquisition of Comunidade land in Anjuna. Inves tigators now believe the scam is far larger in scope, with the ED reporting that over 3.5 lakh square meters of prime land in Anjuna and Assagao were fraudulently mutated into the names of private individuals through forged his torical records, falsified entries and deliberate manipula tion of government registries. What began as scattered complaints of land grabbing has rapidly escalated into one of Goa’s most explosive property scandals, exposing how fraudsters have preyed upon loop holes in the Comunidade system.
The Assagao claims add a fresh layer to the growing mountain of evidence — and place yet another spotlight on a racket that threatens the very foundation of Goa’s traditional landholdings