Gawade, a peon attached with the Directorate of Transport was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch in August while accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh to settle the service issue of Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspector Elister Fernandes. In the statement before the magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC recorded last month he had confessed that the bribe of Rs 5 lakh was demanded to settle the service issue and Rs 1 lakh advance was taken at the behest of Deputy Director of Transport, Vishram Govekar.
Sources at ACB confirmed that in the initial telephonic recording between Gawade and Fernandes the name of then transport director Arun Desai had figured. But this was not reflected in Gawade’s statement before the magistrate.
Based on ACB’s confidential report, Goa government last month transferred Desai and replaced him with Sunil Masurkar.
ACB has recorded Desai’s statement as well as that of Govekar, and two other staffers of the Transport Department.
ACB has also recorded the statement of Govekar’s son whose role has cropped up during the course of investigation.
Sources, however, said they have no knowledge as to why Gawade wanted to retract his earlier statement. ACB officials have remained silent over the case claiming the investigation is proceeding in the right direction.
In the last two years, ACB has arrested five officials of the Transport Department under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 in different cases.
