Team Herald
PANJIM: Hours after disgraced Bollywood actor Kapil Jhaveri was granted conditional bail in the Vagator rave party case, Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte produced evidence to prove the accused’s link with BJP leaders.
Addressing media persons on Tuesday, Khaunte said that Jhaveri, who was caught in possession of drugs and charged of organizing the rave party, has indirect links with Chief Minister (CM) Pramod Sawant and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar.
The former Minister added that Jhaveri and his associates’ episode is a cocktail of drugs, hawala, betting, bollywood, underworld and prostitution, which has been run through a clear cut network of companies floated in the State with BJP leaders as its director.
He said that the rave parties are held to ensure that elite customers are taken care of and to convert black money into white.
He claimed that BJP is involved in political victimization, to protect Jhaveri.
While appreciating Director General of Police (DGP) for his action against rave party, Khaunte claimed that the CM was not aware about the raid and hence Jhaveri got arrested.
The Porvorim MLA added that the entire link was subdued all this while, which was exposed after the Crime Branch raid at Vagator.
He said that the raid was conducted at midnight 12 but it took almost 12 hours to file FIR due to constant pressure of the CM to suppress the matter.
“It was only after coming to know that Jhaveri was arrested, the act to register FIR was delayed,” he charged.
“But I must appreciate DGP for not succumbing to political pressure,” he said, while adding that he will be visiting Delhi with documentary proof to dig out more details.
Rubbishing the CM’s claims that he met Jhaveri last year, Khaunte said the meeting happened on April 24, 2020 when the entire State was reeling under COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
He pointed out that the Chief Minister’s Office released a press note claiming the entire meeting as “courtesy visit”, which took last year, but this was to save himself from a major embarrassment.
Similarly, he pointed out that Jhaveri had also posted his pictures with Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar, Union AYUSH minister Shripad Naik and GTDC Chairman Dayanand Sopte.
Khaunte alleged that these meetings were not just courtesy calls but as a part of the strong link between the actor and BJP leaders.
In this connection, Khaunte named the involvement of the financial firm Tirumala Tirupati Multi State Cooperative Credit Society, of which Jhaveri is the Director. He also named another person, the Chairman of the society, and pointed out that this person is also the director of another firm, which owns a cricket tournament in Canada.
Khaunte alleged that Vinay Tendulkar, the former Goa BJP President and high profile Goa ministers have invested in this company.
He said such an act cannot happen without information of the CM.
“While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to steer the country in right direction, his stoogies in the State are misusing their powers to promote all illegalities and promote money laundering through such channels,” said Khaunte, while adding that “rave parties are happening with the full knowledge of State Home Minister Pramod Sawant.”
He explained how last week, BJP tried to divert this issue wherein they were trying to show that this is just another rave party, which it was actually a party to promote the lethal cocktail, which goes beyond mere narcotics.
“The government has been trying to personally attack me and malign my image as I have been raising my voice on behalf of Goans and people of Porvorim very strongly against all the illegalities, scams and mismanagement of Covid,” he added.
