Parrikar govt plans to nail Kamat in mines recruitment case

In what could spell trouble for former Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, the present Manohar Parrikar government has asked the ACB to file a criminal complaint for alleged irregularities in job recruitments of the Mines department, which was then headed by Kamat.

The complaint, to be registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of vigilance department, indirectly refers Kamat, who was also the mines minister, as it will book former mines and geology department director Arvind Lolienkar, his superiors and subordinates for alleged illegal recruitment in the department, in December last year.

When asked, Parrikar told PTI that the investigations will naturally probe Kamat, since the preliminary inquiry in the job scam has revealed that the "recruitments were done as political favours".

"The ACB will file criminal complaint against Lolienkar, alongwith unknown superiors and junior officers who have colluded and committed criminal conspiracy in the recruitments," Parrikar said.

The ACB will book case under sections dealing with cheating, forgery, manipulations and corruption, the chief minister said.

The former Kamat-led government had given letter of offer to 230 youths in December, who were recruited as mines supervisors.

The Parrikar government, which took over the reigns after Goa Legislative Assembly elections in March earlier this year, decided not to honour the offer letters to the youths, claiming that they were given when the election code of conduct was already in force in the state.