Probe reveals accused would offer services at mamlatdar office
MAPUSA
Citizens paid `3,000 to `4,000 for a residential certificate, which actually costs nothing, revealed police investigations in the bogus
certificate case.
A police source informed that most residents who bought the certificates from the prime accused did not have the required mandatory documents to obtain the resident certificate.
“For a residence certificate, one requires to provide a birth, school or employment certificate, including ration and adhaar card, for the purpose of identity,” an official from the mamlatdar office said.
Till now, police have recovered copies of 12 bogus residential certificates from the residence of the accused.
“So far, we have recorded statements of seven persons who obtained the certificates from the accused. None of them were aware that the certificates were bogus,” said PSI Dipeesh Shetkar, Investigating Officer in the case.
Nilesh Palyekar, prime accused in the case, was an “agent” who used to offer his services to the visitors at the mamlatdar’s office for various jobs.
“The prime accused was familiar among the staff of the mamlatdar office. He used to bring printed residential certificates to the mamlatdar office, and at peak hours when most of the staff was busy. He used one of the office stamps to stamp the bogus certificates,” the investigating officer informed.
The investigating officer informed that the stamp from the Bardez mamlatdar office and the hard disk from the Goa Philatic Centre, from where the accused printed the certificates, have been seized and will be sent to Hyderabad for forensic analysis.
So far, there has been no indication of complicity of any official from the Bardez mamlatdar’s office in the crime, but investigations in the case was still on,
police said.
Police sources have informed that that the residence certificates were basically procured to avail the facility of Griha Adhar, a social welfare scheme sponsored by the
State government.
It may be recalled on April 1 Mapusa Police had arrested Sonali Thorat, a resident of Ekta Nagar, Mapusa in the bogus residential certificate case. During the investigations, Thorat revealed the name of the prime accused, Nilesh Palyekar, from Darbarwada-Camurlim.
