PANAJI
While traffic personnel have faced suspension, departmental inquiries and even penalties including censure and withholding of annual increments for alleged bribery captured in sting videos, Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Prabodh Shirvoikar has been given a clean chit in a separate complaint alleging bribery, abuse of authority and institutional cover-ups.
The internal inquiry, instituted after the Home Department asked the Director General of Police to act on a petition seeking an independent probe against Shirvoikar, has concluded that no action is warranted against the officer, primarily because the complaint was pseudonymous.
“The comments were obtained from the Superintendent of Police, Traffic, Altinho, Panaji-Goa in respect of the alleged allegation pertaining to him and he categorically denied as being false, baseless, motivated and malicious,” the inquiry report, submitted by Superintendent of Police, Legal & Vigilance, Gurudas Gawade, to the Home Department, said.
“The petition appears to be a deliberate attempt to tarnish his reputation, image and is based on fabricated and imaginary allegations made by the pseudonymous author, without any supporting evidence,” it added.
The report also cited Central Vigilance Commission guidelines to conclude that “no action is warranted” on the complaint as it was pseudonymous while recording that Sandeep Shirvoikar, in whose name the petition was filed, denied being its author.
The inquiry, however, provided details of three separate sting-operation videos allegedly showing traffic personnel accepting Rs 10,000, Rs 200 and Rs 300.
In the first case, four traffic personnel were allegedly shown, with one accepting Rs 10,000. A preliminary inquiry led to charge memoranda against PI Sachin Narvekar and ASI Subray Banaulikar, then posted at Calangute. DIG Varsha Sharma later imposed censure on Narvekar and withheld one annual increment of Banaulikar, now a PSI.
In the second video, ASI Yadav Chari and HC Ravindra Khandekar, then posted at Porvorim, were allegedly shown accepting Rs 200. Both were suspended on December 31, 2024, and reinstated on May 23, 2025. A regular departmental inquiry is pending.
The third video allegedly showed three personnel at Anjuna, with one accepting Rs 300. ASI Mohan Chopdekar, HC Govind Mandrekar and PC Prashant Shetye were suspended before being reinstated in February 2025. A departmental inquiry subsequently resulted in withholding one increment for one year for Chopdekar and Shetye, while Mandrekar was warned to be more careful.
