Team Herald
PANJIM: Inspector General of Prisons Elvis Gomes has denied holding any position in the Goa Housing Board at a time when the alleged land scam was reported between 2007 and 2011.
“I did not have access to any documents during this period because I was appointed Managing Director only in the last week of May 2011, when the land acquisition and other formalities were complete,” he told Herald reacting to the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (ACB) FIR against him and former Tourism Minister Nilkant Halarnkar in connection with the alleged scam.
According to the FIR, Halarnkar who was then chairman of Goa Housing Board and Gomes as the then managing director of the Board are accused of converting 30,226 sq mts of land by acquiring it and handing it back to the original owner.
Gomes refuted all allegations stating the final decision of the Housing Board was taken in March 2011 when he was not in the department. “The acquisition process was carried out by the Board when I was not the MD. On the formalities front, the final decision lies with the Board, thereafter it is a procedure. I took over in the last week of May 2011 when all the procedures were complete,” he reiterated, expressing shock over the FIR naming him as one of the accused.
“I personally feel there should not be any case against me. I don’t know why all this is done to me,” he said, adding that he was kept in the dark until the media reported the case.
Asked whether he was being targeted by the government as he was reportedly planning to join a political party, Gomes declined to comment stating, “I don’t want to comment on speculation.” He also allayed rumours of opting for VRS.
