PANJIM: With the arrest of Socorro deputy sarpanch Maya Keni, a day after she was booked for graft, the Socorro panchayat secretary has now come under the scanner of the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) and he has been directed to depose on Wednesday.
Keni was caught accepting bribe of Rs 6000 from Mukundraj Govind Mudras in the office of the secretary on Monday evening. As she took ill, ACB shifted her to Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC). Keni was later discharged and subsequently arrested for the offence under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act.
In his complaint to ACB, Mudras alleged that Keni demanded Rs 7000 as a bribe and stated ‘thereafter she will give it to the secretary for clearing my (complainant’s) matter.’ An ACB official said since the secretary’s role figures in the complaint copy, the latter has been summoned for questioning on Wednesday.
“We will confront the secretary with the information and the evidence provided to us by the complainant. He is also being probed for the alleged offence,” the official said, adding that an investigation is underway.
To submit a watertight case against the alleged accused, Mudras had recorded the telephonic conversation between him and Keni, and has submitted this to ACB for investigation.
According to the case details, Mudras had started a hair cutting saloon without obtaining a trade licence from the local panchayat. Consequently, a notice was issued to which the complainant submitted a file containing an application and the required documents for processing the matter for issue of the trade license and transfer of the shop from the name of Prabhu Construction to Junsa (complainant’s wife).
Mudras alleged that Keni met their employee and left a message with him that he should meet her personally. “Accordingly, I went to the Socorro village panchayat and met her who informed me that I have to pay Rs 7,000 apart from the official fees of Rs 11,500 to her for waiving off the fine to be imposed by the panchayat for running the business without trade licence. On March 24, 2018 she called me over my mobile phone and asked me to pay Rs 7000 to her and thereafter she will give it to the secretary for clearing my matter. She called me again to pay the amount before that evening,” the complaint stated.
The bribe amount was negotiated by the complainant and reduced to Rs 6,000 after which he approached her to pay the amount.
