Upset officer cites lack of public support in exposing corruption despite awareness
PANAJI
The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Goa is literally ‘idle’ with no complaints of bribery or corruption reported to the agency in the last five years. A visibly upset CBI-ACB SP, Ashesh Kumar, admitted that its regional office is idle but also took a sarcastic dig that Goa is corruption-free, a ‘Ram-Rajya’ State.
“We have registered three FIRs in the first 10 months of 2022, of which two cases were lodged by respective banks alleging loan fraud. Other than these, not a single complaint of bribery or disproportionate assets have come to us in the last five years, which indicates there is no corruption in Goa... We are not required here. This is Ram Rajya,” he said during a media interaction on Vigilance Awareness Week 2022, on Wednesday.
The CBI-ACB deals with related complaints against officials of the Central government, public sector undertakings, and banks. The senior officer also expressed utter disappointment over lack of public support despite awareness campaigns.
“There are no complaints. People are satisfied with the functioning of the offices,” he lamented, adding, ‘We are sitting idle in Goa because there is no participation from the public or the media. We have registered only three cases (from Jan-Oct 2022). You (media) and the people know everything about problems (corruption/bribery) prevailing in the State…but not once I received a distress call about corrupt practices or that my intervention is needed.”
SP Kumar also sought to know people’s expectations from the CBI-ACB while urging them to approach the premier investigating agency if they are victims of corruption or are in the know of such activity in the State, and assured their identity will be a secret. In absence of even clues shared with them, Kumar added, CBI is unable to “even take suo motu cognizance of any corrupt practices.”
As many as 80 cases investigated by the ACB-CBI Goa are currently pending trial while its 25-member team has only eight cases under investigation. “Since we don’t have much work, we are placed in a small office. If there are more cases, the staff strength will increase. However, there is no staff requirement in the current circumstances,” he added.
