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Panaji: The Goa crime branch on Thursday said they are “carefully scrutinising” each aspect of the allegations made by cash-for-jobs scam accused Puja Naik, stressing that the claims cannot be taken at face value.
Naik has claimed the involvement of a state minister and two government officials in the alleged multi-crore scam, prompting the Opposition to target the government under Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
Superintendent of police (Crime Branch) Rahul Gupta told reporters on Thursday that the inquiry into the matter is underway.
“Some of her allegations prima facie do not corroborate with other available records. Hence, they need a thorough examination. The crime branch is examining the contents of recorded statements and will accordingly decide the future course of action,” he said.
The allegations made by Naik cannot be taken at face value, said the official.
Naik, arrested last year and currently out on bail, posted a video on social media last week, alleging the involvement of a state minister and two others in the multi-crore scam.
Without naming anyone, Naik claimed that she had been collecting money from victims on behalf of a minister, a senior IAS officer and an engineer.
Gupta said a video of Naik was circulated on social media on November 9 concerning the alleged job scam. In the video, she claimed to have paid Rs 17.68 crores to two officials between 2019 and 2022 to secure government jobs, Gupta said.
In her earlier statement, Naik had said nothing about the role of any government official, according to Gupta. The crime branch has summoned Naik twice and recorded her statements in detail, including a recent, nearly five-hour interrogation, he said.
He said police are looking into Naik’s allegations concerning payments received from hundreds of victims of the job scam.
“One of the allegations was that there was a flat in PDA Colony (near Panaji) where this transaction used to happen. But we enquired with the flat owner and he produced records that only hotel management students have lived in that flat since 2019,” Gupta said.
The official said Naik was named in five cases registered across Goa in connection with the cash-for-jobs scam and had come out on bail on November 21 last year.
The Opposition Congress has demanded a judicial inquiry into the allegations of a state minister's role in the scam, accusing the government of protecting those involved in the racket.
Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao had claimed that Naik had named a minister in her statement after her arrest last year. However, when the chargesheet was filed, there was no mention of the name, he said.