Team Herald
PANJIM: The Goa Police’s image has once again been sullied as the State’s latest crime drama unfolded like scenes from Pushpa 2, with a land-grabbing accused escaping from police custody, aided by a police constable. The incident has sent shockwaves across Goa’s civil society, with many drawing parallels to the film’s portrayal of how wit, influence, and corruption allow criminals to outsmart the system.
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Amit Naik, the IRBn constable, surrendered to Hubballi Police on Friday evening, after Goa Police was on alert all day to track the accused. SP (Crime Branch) Rahul Gupta, IPS said, “A Goa Police team has left for Hubballi and we will interrogate Naik there. However, Suleman Khan (the escaped undertrial) is still at large,” he said.
Suleman reportedly ditched Naik midway to Hubballi and fled in a white swift car, after which the constable surrendered as his bike ran out of fuel.
Reports suggest Naik, who stays at Baina, was on night guard duty at the Crime Branch lockup in Ribandar, when he unlocked Siddiqui alias Suleman Khan’s cell and helped him escape using his personal Yamaha R15 motorcycle.
Reports further suggested that happened around 2.30 am on Friday, but the shocking lapse was discovered two hours later. Police stated that they crossed two checkposts, one at the Goa border manned by the Goa police and the other by the Karnataka police and apparently, nobody checked their credentials , early morning.
Khan, a 55-year-old proclaimed offender wanted in multiple land-grabbing cases has reportedly amassed crores of rupees in illicit wealth. He had evaded arrest for 4.5 years and was apprehended last month by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). He had been in police custody since November 12, facing formal charges in three cases. Both Naik and Khan hail from Karnataka.
Insiders say Naik may have been influenced by personal pressures. According to police sources, Naik, who was facing problems in his marriage and had run up huge debts. When Crime Branch officers visited his residence on Friday morning, Naik’s father reportedly suffered a traumatic shock and had to be hospitalised after learning of his son’s involvement.
A Question of Accountability
Police sources said that four persons from the IRBn Battalion comprising a reserve hawaldar, who performs as a station house officer (SHO), and three constables are deputed on duty outside the lockup every two hours, but senior officers never keep any eye on what’s happening there, as a result of which those deputed on dutywork according to their whims and fancies.
A senior cop said, “While the lone cop performed his duty, the others comfortably slept in their barracks and woke up two hours later only to see that the constable and the accused had fled.
The police also say that the lockup is unfit for keeping the high-profile accused and lacks a toilet as a result of which every time when an inmate wants to relieve himself, he is moved to the lockup in the next building.
It may be recalled that the Panjim zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) confirmed the attachment of 19 properties in the State including 11 in Anjuna and 8 in Assagao and issued public notice for taking possession of the properties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
These properties were provisionally attached in November last year as part of a land grabbing scam.The ED has issued notices directing occupants, if any, to vacate the premises within 10 days and hand over possession to the agency. Additionally, any rent or lease amount generated from these properties must be deposited with the ED, as per the notice issued on November 20, 2024.
