PANAJI
Amid a high-level probe into allegations of extortion involving the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Goa Police shunted the erring personnel to the Police Training School (PTS) in Valpoi in an abrupt decision on Wednesday.
The development comes a day after The Goan reported about the alleged extortionists within the elite force. The five personnel including a police inspector were caught in a CCTV footage purportedly demanding Rs 10 lakh from a businessman, at his office in Salcete.
An embarrassed department ordered an inquiry but has till date, shied away from taking disciplinary action such as suspension of the personnel despite evidence and initial complaint.
Sources said that superiors in the department finalised transferring them to the PTS after discussing which remote center will be best suited to temporarily shift them.
“The department had to choose between IRB Nanora and PTS. The higher-ups then decided PTS after which a wireless message was sent out transferring them,” a source revealed.
The cops are accused of extorting money from the businessman who reportedly operates an online gaming company. The complainant negotiated it to Rs 5 lakh and the deal, as per updates on Wednesday, was sealed at Rs 7.5 lakh - all paid in cash.
The incident occurred in the office of an online gaming company in Salcete where the civil-clothed men identified themselves as ATS personnel from Panaji. Sources said that a senior officer, who also has a share, was reportedly stationed outside the office at the time when his staff collected and handed over the extorted money from the complainant.
DGP Jaspal Singh on Tuesday said that the department has initiated an inquiry following a complaint by the businessman and assured appropriate action based on the report’s findings.
The Goa Forward Party (GFP) has slammed the government for maintaining silence on the issue. “Silence of Goa CM speaks volumes. The presence of extortion gangs operating in Goa Police is an indictment of Pramod Sawant’s (CM) incompetence and weakness as Home Minister. Why is he quiet? Is there something he knows that Goans don’t? Or he oversees only petty cases,” GFP President Vijai Sardesai said.
The party also made a statement taking a dig at the CM. “Laughable! Pramod Sawant and Goa Police who always boast of Goa’s high detection rate failed to detect extortion gangs in their own dept. Sheet incompetence? Or is it because extortion has become so institutionalised and habitual that it’s not a crime anymore?” reads a post on the party’s official Twitter handle.
Top official holds meet with dept bosses, outcome kept under wraps
PANAJI: No sooner the department was stunned by what they didn’t expect, a senior bureaucrat in the Goa government summoned a meeting with the department bosses. The outcome of the meeting is however kept under wraps but sources claim that the IAS officer expressed his utter disappointment with the alleged extortion episode.
The professional background of these policemen are now being unearthed. One of those directly involved in the matter was earlier suspended for extortion of Rs 2,000 from a group of locals during his posting in Valpoi. He was reinstated with a warning not to repeat the act and subsequently promoted.
