PANAJI
A four-member committee headed by South Goa Collector, Ashwin Chandru, IAS, will adjudicate and decide what will happen to the money involved in the rogue seizure by the election flying squad of Dabolim last Sunday.
The Delhi-based businessmen duo -- Ashok Chaudhary and Pawankumar Verma -- whose car was stopped and their money confiscated at Dabolim claimed the amount was Rs 16 lakh but only Rs 8 lakh of it is recovered in the criminal investigation launched by the Verna police.
Two officials, Anirudha Pawar who headed the flying squad and Nitesh Naik, an LDC in the IT section of the Election Cell, have since been suspended for failing to report the seizure and follow procedures prescribed by the Election Commission of India.
Interestingly, a top election official told The Goan that since Rs 8 lakh is now recovered, the liquid cash will have to go through the normal procedure of seizures in election time and will be dealt with by the district level committee headed by Chandru.
In South Goa, apart from Chandru who is also the Returning Officer for the South Goa Lok Sabha seat, this committee includes Project Director of District Rural Development Authority, Deepali Naik, Director of Accounts in the Electricity Department, Walter M D'Melo and Deputy Director of Accounts Chetan C Dharangutty.
It is mandated to independently investigate this case and decide on confiscation and the Delhi-based businessmen will have to present their case, including the source of the cash before it.
Also, since the amount of cash involved is above Rs 10 lakh, all the information related to the case will be passed on to the nodal officer of the Income Tax Department before any of it is released to the complainant businessmen, as per procedure laid down by the ECI.
