Team Herald
PANJIM: The almost back-to-back arrests of four women among the 10 nabbed in the explosive cash-for-jobs scam unfolding in Goa currently has raised an important question: is there a kingpin who controls the queen-pins and their accomplices?
With the multiple arrests, the lid has got blown off one of Goa’s biggest job scams, where gullible youth looking for government employment were duped into paying lakhs. Estimates suggest that the total money that the scamsters collected could run into several crores.
Though Pooja Naik’s cash for government jobs scam is the queen-pin, the police also arrested three other women -- Sunita Pawaskar, a school headmistress, Deepashree Sawant e Gawas and Priya Yadav, who too fleeced job aspirants. Yadav duped youths on the pretext of facilitating jobs in Railways.
Pooja Naik was first arrested by the Mardol Police along with co-accused Ajit Satarkar, while Deepashree Sawant e Gawas was the mastermind for taking bribes from a Marcel resident.
Besides, the four women, the others who were arrested were Ajit Satarkar of Priol, IRB constable Sagar Naik of Curti, Rameshwar Mandrekar of Sankhali, Mithil Chari of Poinguinim, Pritesh Chari of Loliem-Canacona and Parag Raikar of Margao. The last named is the son of former MLA late Gajanan Raikar. The police have so far arrested 10 persons for their alleged involvement in different cheating cases and have not ruled out the possibility of more arrests.
The over Rs 1 crore Railway jobs and money lending scam is also masterminded by a queen-pin Priya Yadav.
Meanwhile, Pooja Naik, was on Wednesday, taken into custody by the Porvorim Police after the end of her bail in the Bicholim Police Station.
She was remanded in seven days police custody after the Bicholim Police arrested her on October 29.
The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Bicholim, also dismissed the bail application filed by Pooja Naik on Wednesday.
The Porvorim Police had registered a case against Pooja Naik and Ajit Satarkar and Anisha Satarkar, both residents of Priol, for allegedly dishonestly and fraudulently inducing one Priya Mandrekar to transfer an amount of Rs 4 lakh in the bank account of Ajit Satarkar and Anisha Satarkar on the pretext of giving her a government job.
Mandrekar, who hails from Porvorim, had complained that the accused duped her at Porvorim sometime between November 2021 and December 12, 2021.
On Wednesday, the Canacona Police arrested Rameshwar Mandrekar of Sankhali on the charge of accepting cash of Rs 5 lakh from one Kamlakar Naik from Poinguinim on the pretext of providing a government job. The police are now on the lookout for Mandrekar’s accomplice Ravindra Bhandari of Polem, Canacona, who is still at large.
Goa Forward Party president and MLA Vijai Sardesai said, “Jobs are for sale. Officers have been given extension in service by the government post retirement to facilitate cash for jobs scam! Pliable officers have destroyed the future of meritorious Goan youth by manipulating results at the behest of political bosses who are out to sell Goa.”
Political commentator Trajano D’Mello said, “It is not a new phenomenon. It got exposed because it went out of proportion. It caught fire after BJP came back to power in 2012 when then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar promised many jobs. Youth got enthused and believed that jobs were available and parents were ready to sell their gold ornaments. Corruption also increased as those who paid money had to recover it.”
AITUC general secretary Christopher Fonseca said, “Cash for job scam is not something new. It was around since the liberation of Goa. There were feeble attempts and not an institutional system where corruption is the order of the day. But today it has become a wholesale business.”
Auda Viegas, Bailancho Ekvott president said, “Women are vulnerable and I suspect that somebody has used Pooja Naik to do a job scam. It is sad that the material witness has died by suicide. Government should find out who is the main kingpin and punish him.”