ASSAGAO: When the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed by the Goa Police to investigate land grab cases in Goa, those affected thought justice was around the corner, but with just five chargesheets being filed a few days back, justice seems to be going round and round the corner but not coming to the victims.
“We have filed five charge sheets recently and will provide you the details as we are busy with Assembly work,” stated Shivram Vaigankar, DySP of Crime Branch. Properties of cases where the five chargesheets have been filed can now go to court and get their properties unfrozen. We are investigating all cases in earnest,” assured Vaigankar.
“SIT is investigating forty-one land grabbing cases,” informed a source from the ED.
The elderly living alone and many Goans living abroad woke up to the reality that their properties were being usurped (in many cases by fellow Goans) and fraudulently sold to outsiders – in most cases – with names of original landowners being changed in Form I and XIV.
“It started with one case and soon, more and more people kept realising that their names were being changed in Form I & XIV and that is the time we had to make announcements in our Assagao church to warn people,” remembers Advocate Cristina Dias, who has helped many of the victims legally.
The zonal branch of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after investigating forty-seven FIRs obtained from Goa Police declared that thirty-one properties were liable to be attached. The ED initiated the investigation based on the various FIRs on illegal land grabbing registered in various police stations in Goa and filed a complaint before the Special court (PMLA) Mapusa on April 12, 2024, and the same was taken cognisance on May 13, 2024.
“The ED has conducted a thorough inquiry into the cases it investigated and it is a pity the SIT just appears to turn corners when they should be getting to the root of the problem. After having handed over the cases to SIT, the government should have seen to it that the shine is not taken off their teeth,” surmised an advocate following the cases, on condition of anonymity.
The ED arrested two individuals – Vikrant Shetty and Rajkumar Maithi – during the course of their investigation and Mohammed Suhail is absconding.
“The investigations are still going on. The two arrested are still in custody and I do not want to disclose details on our search for Suhail,” stated Om Prakash, Deputy Director of the Goa zonal office of ED.
“After the ED wrote that the 31 properties are liable to be attached, they were frozen and many were reverted back to the name of original owners but there is nothing the real owners can do as their properties are still frozen,” said Dias.
She went on to add: “Once the cases were handed over to SIT, we expected the owners to get their names on the land records back again and the perpetrators of this crime behind bars. There is not much movement in these terms.”
ED investigation
ED has initiated a separate investigation. Filed a complaint before the Special court (PMLA) Mapusa on April 12, 2024, and taken cognisance on May 13, 2024.
Page 14 of the 4203 ED report mentions the persons questioned. They are Mr Mohammed Suhail, Mr Rajkumar Maithi, Mr Vikrant Shetty, Mr Caetano Fernandes, Mrs Meena Naik, Mr Omkar Palyekar, Mr Ramchandra Dabholkar, Mr Sandric Fernandes, Mr Royston Rodrigues, Mr Dhiresh Naik, Mr Shivanand Madkaikar, Mrs Rita Fernandes, Mr Sidhesh Parab and other associated/related persons was recorded under Section 50 (2) & (3) of PMLA 2002.
