The Indian Express | 1 week ago | 22-06-2022 | 11:40 am
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant Tuesday announced that 22 members have been added to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe cases of illegal land grabbing in the state. His statement came a day after he had said government officials too may face arrests in the cases land grab using forged documents.“We have decided to strengthen the SIT constituted for investigating illegal land grabbing/transfer cases by adding 22 more officials to the team. We will leave no stone unturned to get to the root of the matter and book the culprits,” Sawant said on Tuesday evening.On Monday, he had said that the SIT’s work was in progress and it was examining various land deals in the state. “There are a lot of people involved. I am personally monitoring the cases. Many more people including government officials may also be arrested,” Sawant had said.For the first time, the Goa government constituted a SIT on June 15 to probe cases of illegal land grab. The seven-member SIT is led by the Nidhin Valsan, Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch and also includes members from the state’s archaeology department and the state registrar.On Saturday, the SIT arrested one Vikrant Shetty for his alleged involvement in using forged documents for carrying out illegal land transfers. The investigations conducted so far, according to the Goa government, have revealed that about 60-70 properties in North Goa have “been transferred in the name of prospective buyers by way of forged documents”.The alleged illegalities may run into hundreds of crores of rupees, the estimates suggest.Last week, Sawant had said there have been instances of such illegal land transfers in the coastal belt of the state, in Mapusa and in some parts of the Salcete taluka too.
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