Team Herald
PANJIM: The back-to-back bails secured by the queen-pins and their associates over the last few days in the multi-crore cash-for-jobs scam has raised an important question – was the Goa Police investigation into the biggest scandal the State has seen in years adequate and did they go all out to nab the culprits? With the names of senior political leaders coming up, including some operatives who had clear links with the ruling BJP, are there chances that the big fish escaped the net?
Of the 34 accused arrested for cheating gullible job-seekers on the pretext of providing them with government jobs, as many as 32 have been granted conditional bail.
Lawyers that spoke to O Heraldo expressed their dissatisfaction over the investigation and suggested that the masterminds had gone scot free.
Senior Advocate Cleofato Coutinho said, “All investigations slow down the moment bail is granted. I don’t know what evidence police have collected and if there is enough to chargesheet the accused. I believe nothing will come out from cash-for-job scam because it needed an investigation by a special team monitored by a judicial officer, which has not happened. Statements are recorded by the police and if the accused implicate any minister or politician, police will not record it.”
Coutinho added that the police’s credibility was low and that “the implication is that everybody will forget about these cases after a few days.”
Adv Pritam Morais of Margao said, “Despite the recent breakthroughs in the ‘cash-for-job’ scam, a significant aspect of the case remains shrouded in mystery. The mastermind behind the scam, who allegedly orchestrated the collection of money from unsuspecting victims, remains unidentified. It is difficult to believe that such huge amounts of money could have been collected without involvement of some high-ranking public authority. If such public authority is identified, the case would be covered under the stringent provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.”
Adv Atrey Kakodkar from Curchorem suggested that the investigation “should be handed over to the CBI, because deserving candidates have been deprived government jobs. The mastermind has to be nailed, failing which such scams will keep happening.”
Margao-based advocate Spencer Viegas felt that the involvement of a kingpin was speculation, but what was certain that job aspirants had been cheated. “Since it was a deal between the accused and the victims, which is why police have mostly registered cases of cheating. It would be difficult to slap any other Sections against the accused.”
Former North Goa Juvenile Justice Board member Adv Lida Joao said, “A lot depends on how well meticulously the chargesheet is filed. One cannot afford to do sketchy work in such a volatile case.”