Colva, Oct 1 (TOI): Soon after the inauguration of a new police station at Fatorda, advocate Aires Rodrigues set it in motion by filing the first case there against local MLA Vijai Sardesai, the town and country planning minister. The complaint alleged that Sardesai hatched a criminal conspiracy and committed a cognizable offence under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
When asked why he chose to file the case at the new police station, Rodrigues said that Sardesai called activist Kashinath Shetye from Fatorda and he had the call records to prove it. He further said that he would provide sufficient time to the new station's in-charge to register the case, else explore other options.
Meanwhile, reacting to the complaint, Sardesai said that "the activist, with a publicity stunt, seeks to trivilialise the achievement of Fatordekars with a bogus case".
Police inspector Navlesh Naik said that an individual can file a complaint anywhere in the state, and that he would conduct an enquiry to check the veracity of the complaint and then decide whether or not to register the complaint.
Along with the complaint, Rodrigues submitted a copy of a video voice clip and a verbatim transcript in which Sardessai is allegedly heard coercing, pressurizing, or attempting to bribe and influence the litigant Kashinath Shetye, who had filed a PIL regarding open spaces at Goa Industrial Development Corporation land at Verna which had been illegally converted into plots and thereafter allotted to Manohar Parrikar and former Fatorda MLA Damu Naik, among others.
Rodrigues stated that the conversation exposes the criminal conspiracy and illegal acts in conversion of the open spaces and its subsequent allotment as plots, which prima facie indicates cash transactions to the detriment of GIDC, with Shetye claiming that Manohar Parrikar offered him Rs. 1.25 crores.
Rodrigues sought that the assets of all persons named in the conversation be examined to see if the flow of funds had been from unknown sources or disproportionate assets, since the grants of plots would be for a consideration, and this would amount to doling out public property by corrupt means.