PANJIM: Former St Cruz sarpanch Mariano Araujo has accused former sarpanch William Gonsalves of allegedly being involved in illegally grabbing an open space at Cujira.
Briefing mediapersons, Araujo alleged that Gonsalves has occupied the open space admeasuring 925 sq mts belonging to 12 residents with the hidden intention to illegally grab it.
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“Gonsalves misused his power while he was the sarpanch in 1996,” he alleged.
According to Araujo, the Vigilance Department had inquired about this matter upon receiving a complaint from one Yogesh Vishwanath Tigadi in February 2022. The matter was then immediately referred to the office of Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department.
Taking cognisance of the same, the TCP issued a show cause notice to Gonsalves in the same month.
Araujo said that since Gonsalves failed to reply to show-cause notice, the Deputy Town Planner orally assured them that action will be initiated against Gonsalves for illegally grabbing the land. But till date, no action has been taken, he said.
Gonsalves has refuted allegations of land grabbing and countered that Araujo is a ‘frustrated man’. He claimed that he has all the documents and that he had replied to the show cause notice issued to him by the TCP in February this year.
“I posses all the valid documents. Why aren’t they approaching the court if they have all the evidences against me? he asked.
