PANJIM: Suraj Samant, the lone Police Inspector of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) land grabbing, who has been investigating the important cases reported across the State, has been suddenly shunted out to the Betul Coastal Police Station vide July 3 order.
Samant was investigating the land grabbing cases in South Goa where fakery, misappropriation, impersonation, lies and deceit of massive proportions had come to light.
The masterminds involved in some of the land-grabbing cases in South Goa went to the extent of creating fake, non-existent personalities in the names of their own relatives to grab their land.
The transfer raises eyebrows since SIT, according to those in the know of the investigations, was very close in getting its hands on the masterminds involved in the land grabbing cases following multiple raids and arrests. PI Samant’s transfer now risks sinking these and several other land-grabbing cases into the abyss.
Earlier PI Sakharam Parab, the other investigating officer of land grab cases was transferred. Now the SIT probing hundreds of land grab cases is headed by the Crime Branch SP but is leg-less as two of its investigative officers who did the fieldwork have been transferred with no replacements given.
However, Superintendent of Police (SP) Nidhin Valsan said that officers in the Crime Branch are conducting investigations in the cases that have been registered.