Team Herald
PANJIM: It appears that Sachin Naik Borkar, the prime accused in the Civil Supplies grain scam case has gained an upper hand at each stage.
The South Goa District Sessions Court recently quashed the order of the District Collector to hand over the seized grains to Fair Price Shops (FPS) and the accused has now applied for the release of the food grains claiming ownership over the same.
Borkar has filed an application before the High Court of Bombay at Goa with a prayer to quash the three FIRs filed against him in the pilferage scam.
It may be recalled that on November 14, the Crime Branch had raided several locations mainly in Ponda taluka and seized as many as 581 rice bags and 256 wheat bags along with other grains worth nearly Rs 10 lakh. The grains were reportedly siphoned out of the Civil Supplies warehouses in Sanguem, Ponda and Panjim.
The Crime Branch had registered three FIRs in the matter wherein rice and wheat were allegedly being smuggled and taken to Karnataka in trucks. The main accused in the matter was the owner of a private warehouse Sachin Naik Borkar from Ponda and the other accused Virendra Mardolkar was also involved in the offence. Subsequently, both Borkar and Mardolkar were granted bail.
Meanwhile, the South Goa Collector had ordered the release of the food grains by resending the same to the Fair Price Shops. Borkar had appealed for quashing of the South Collector’s order. The Sessions Court South Goa accepted his plea and quashed the Collector’s order.
The accused has now filed a plea before the Ponda JMFC for releasing the food grains. The Investigating Officer PI Laxi Amonkar said, “We have filed our say and have opposed the release of the grains. We have asked the applicant to provide invoices and bills if he claims that the grains are of his ownership.”
“The arguments in this matter have been held and the order will be pronounced soon,” said PI Amonkar.
The Goa Police and the Government seem to be continuously losing the food grains case battle. The Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department meanwhile is making attempts to stop any further incidents by tightening the rules of the public distribution system in Goa. With no accused persons in custody and no big headway in the case, the future of the case appears bleak.
