TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The Goa Police have made yet another attempt to close a corruption case against ex-North Goa ZP chairperson and vice chairperson Anil Hoble and Zinia Dias do Rosario, respectively, arguing that a crucial piece of documentary evidence has ‘mysteriously’ gone missing.
Closing of the case against Hoble, a senior BJP functionary, has been opposed by one of the complainants Jitendra Deshprabhu, a former Congress MLA. He has argued that the police are not investigating it seriously as Hoble is close to the ruling party.
In their latest attempt to file the ‘A’ summary report, the police have claimed that a crucial piece of evidence, which was earlier referenced by the judge at the Judicial Magistrate First Class where the case is being heard, is missing.
In the earlier attempt to file a closure of the case back on May 6, 2006 the police had told the court that there was insufficient evidence against the two. However, the judge in an order issued on March 21, 2007 would have nothing of it and ordered the police to file a chargesheet within one month.
“The case is well supported by the statement of Sudesh Mandrekar and other witnesses. There is prima facie case against the accused. Ask in-charge of the Panjim police station to file chargesheet within a month from passing order,” the judge ordered.
However, when the file reached back at the Panjim Police station that crucial piece of evidence disappeared. The police then asked for three months’ extension as well as a further one month’s extension in filing of the chargesheet.
In 2009, when the police again filed for closure as then Panjim PI Nolasco Raposo submitted that “there is no statement of Sudesh Mandrekar on record and all efforts were made to locate him but in vain.”
Panjim police had registered the first information report in 2003 based on a complaint filed by three former Congress MLAs, including Francis Silveira and Victoria Fernandes wherein it was alleged that work was not done in their respective constituencies but money was taken by the ZP members. The case was filed after Deshprabhu submitted that since Hoble is a high-ranking and senior party functionary of the ruling BJP, Panjim police station was not investigating the case due to political influence.
The former Congress MLAs had, in their complaint, said that upon the perusal of the lists of the works clearly discloses that there is a misappropriation of huge amounts of money by Hoble and Rosario.
Works are shown as having been executed twice, and also the details of the executed work are missing, they said. Besides, there are works shown which have never been undertaken by the North Goa zilla panchayat, the complainant alleged.
In the earlier attempt to file a closure of the case back on May 6, 2006 the police had told the court that there was insufficient evidence against the two. This time around, they content that a crucial piece of documentary evidence has ‘mysteriously’ gone missing.
