PANJIM: Nearly a decade after setting up its branch office in the State and investigating some of the most high profile drug-related offences, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sub zonal unit (Goa) has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
With two of its officers, including its Superintendent under investigation for allegedly possessing disproportionate assets in less than a year, the nodal drug law enforcement and intelligent agency has earned disrepute in Goa.
In the raid at the NCB office at Porvorim on Tuesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) swooped down on its officer Bhanu Pratap for alleged corruption. While this raid was a part of a massive crackdown on corruption and arms smuggling cases across 110 locations in 19 states, a similar case slapped against NCB Goa’s Superintendent Jitendra Ranjan, last year, also led to the agency facing an embarrassing situation. Ranjan was soon suspended and his residencies in Goa and native Patna, Bihar were searched for evidence. Ranjan’s family, including his wife and mother-in-law, have also come under the CBI scanner.
Booked on September 25, 2018, Ranjan also faces allegations of operating bank accounts of his wife, daughters and his mother-in-law in which he personally credited the money through Cash Deposit Machine.
“Most of his assets were found to be acquired during his posting in Goa as the NCB Superintendent and as such the CBI conducted a check of his income from January 1, 2014 to August 31, 2018. He has acquired movable and immovable assets in his and his family members’ names. The assets are disproportionate to his known source of income,” an officer said.
Ranjan has been interrogated a number of times and a senior CBI officer told Herald he might be summoned again if the Investigating Officer needs his presence for questioning. “The investigation is still underway as several documents are being examined and the Investigating Team is also in the process of obtaining required documents from relevant agencies and Ranjan himself,” he added.
Ranjan joined NCB as an intelligence officer in 2010 and completed nine years of service until the suspension.
NCB officer Bhanu Pratap may also faces the same charge. The CBI officer told Herald that he too has allegedly amassed assets disproportionate to his income after his posting in the NCB Goa branch. “In his 7-8 years of service, he has amassed huge wealth which do not correspond to his actual income.We worked on the lead after which the NCB office premises and his residences in Goa and native Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh were searched,” the CBI officer said adding that they had received several complaints that these officers would threaten certain people, particularly from the coastal belt, in a bid to extort money.
Pratap will be questioned over the allegations, the officer said.
