PANJIM: Former Chief Minister and sitting Congress MLA Ravi Naik, his son Roy and senior police officials among many others, are on the radar of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the police-politician-drug mafia nexus.
The SIT (Drugs), formed in 2017 will seek deposition of all those named in the 96-page House Committee Report on drugs that recommended action and filing of First Information Report (FIR) against over a dozen people if found linked with criminal nature of activities, mentioned in the House Committee report
Apart from politicians, senior police officials named in the report could be summoned to depose before the SIT. Likewise, David Driham alias Dudu and Yaniv Benaim alias Atala, both who faced investigation for their alleged role into the nexus, could also be called for interrogation.
With the Home Department currently examining the SIT report, sources close to the government told Herald that questioning of all those named in the report will begin soon.
“The House Committee had indicted former CM Ravi Naik and his son in the nexus. It also exposed involvement of police officials of different ranks. We are inquiring into their role and they will be interrogated. Our investigation is based on the House Committee report,” the officer said.
The legislative panel, which was headed by then MLA Francisco (Mickky) Pacheco, had recommended an FIR against Roy while slamming Ravi Naik’s alleged involvement in the nexus stating, “The House Committee holds that Ravi Naik, then Home Minister, was actively involved in the drug trade and was closely associated with the drug mafia leader Yaniv Benaim (Israeli national) in the drug trade by shielding his own son and by instigating the police personnel under his charge to gleefully indulge in the drug trade in the State for common pecuniary and other gains.”
To establish the father-son involvement in the crime, the committee claimed it had enormous amount of documentary evidence to pinpoint the identity and their criminal engagement in the drug trade in Goa. In a lengthy set of recommendations that followed, the committee sought that salaries and allowances Ravi Naik earned as minister be recovered from him as arrears of land revenue.
The findings had also charged the Police Department of shielding them and instead implicating ‘innocent and small timers’ in the narcotics case.
The then DGP was criticised for not co-operating with the House Committee as he alleged failed to provide relevant information whereas 16 police officials, have also been mentioned in the report.
