MARGAO: Spurred by the lack of an update in the case, the Prime Minister’s Office has sent a second letter to the Home Ministry, issuing directions to Goa’s Director General of Police (DGP) to take appropriate action regarding the alleged extortion and harassment of a Margao resident by Deputy Superintendent Sagar Ekoskar and his subordinates. The letter from the Under Secretary of the Home Ministry, Pritidas Gaonkar, also directs the Goa DGP to expedite the inquiry and report back to him at the earliest.
This is the fourth such directive from the Centre seeking action regarding the complaint of Floyd Coutinho, coming after the first letter from the PMO in April, a letter from the President of India’s Secretariat in May, and another letter from the Under Secretary, Home, again in May.
Herald has been reporting the case of alleged harassment since March this year, when Coutinho first made his written representation to the country’s President, Prime Minister and Home Minister, complaining that Ekoskar, who was then the PI of Maina Curtorim Police, along with PSI Tejaskumar Naik, and police constables Dhiraj Naik and Rizwan Shaikh demanded a sum of Rs 10,00,000 from him, and threatened to implicate him in a false case if he failed to pay up.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Secretary, Goa, Coutinho said that the Superintendent of Police, Legal and Vigilance Cell, Panjim, has prepared an inquiry report, but it was prepared in haste, without notifying him or even recording his statement.
“That report has been prepared in haste, with an intent to give a clear chit to DYSP Ekoskar and the others.
This report should be discarded as it is fabricated and based on false information,” Coutinho alleged.
He also alleged that records uploaded on the Public Grievances Portal contain wrong information, and requested the CS to verify and upload correct information about the case.
He also said that police have falsely opened a Look Out Circular (LOC) against him by misguiding the concerned departments and the Superintendent of Police, South Goa .
He said he has saved the the entire voice recording of the extortion attempt made by the crooked police officers in a CD, available for ready reference. The recording also contains the threats of false imprisonment allegedly made by constable Dhiraj Naik, Coutinho added.
In his complaint, Coutinho said his worries began when he was summoned to the police station and asked to record his statement as a witness in a case he was not involved in. He alleged that the police were trying to tarnish his name, and said that the gang of crooked cops
harassed him by pasting notices on the door of his flat and issuing lookout notices at the airport to prevent his entry into Goa, even though he has not committed or been accused of any offence.
Coutinho has meanwhile filed a petition against the concerned persons before The High Court of Bombay at Goa and has also sent legal notices to the Chief Secretary, Goa, and the DGP, for the lack of action.
