NT Reporter | Panaji
In fresh allegations made in connection with the cash-for-jobs scam, one of the main accused, Pooja Naik, on Friday named Power Minister Ramakrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar, an IAS officer and a PWD officer, claiming that the irregularities took place during the period when she was working at the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) office.
Naik made the fresh revelations before the media in Panaji in the presence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state convener Amit Palekar. The new claims are likely to intensify the ongoing investigation into the case.
Naik told reporters that she had given Rs 17.68 crore in cash to an IAS officer and a PWD officer for 613 government jobs. She also claimed that when she was working in the MGP office, she had done 80 job appointments in exchange for money.
Naik further said that she has been asking the two officials to return the money. “However, they are giving me dates after dates. Due to this, my children are also at home,” Naik said claiming that when the mega job recruitment was announced in 2019, the minister had asked her to contact these officials.
“I have given them Rs 17.68 crore for 613 job applications. My request is that they give this money back so that I can repay to the people from whom I collected it,” Naik said. “I had given this money to them in a flat located at Porvorim. But now the police say that the flat is allocated to the Institute of Hospitality Management,” she said.
Naik said she had not named the minister during the police investigation, but given names of the two officials. She also clarified that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was not involved.
Demanding a probe into the alleged cash-for-jobs scam through a court-appointed independent agency or through the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Goa chief of AAP Palekar raised questions against Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) and Deputy Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) and alleged that the officers were pressurising Naik to say what they wanted.
