Panaji, May 28 (IANS) Going against the recommendations of the police, the Goa government Friday told the Bombay High Court that it is not willing to hand over the probe into the police-politician-drug mafia nexus to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Panaji bench of the high court had directed the government to formally state if it was keen on handing over the probe into the high profile nexus, which has already resulted in the arrest of seven policemen, to CBI.
‘At this stage, there is no necessity to hand over the case to an independent agency like the CBI. If required, a senior officer could investigate the case,’ government counsel Carlos Ferreira told the court Friday.
The government’s decision not to hand over the nexus probe to the CBI is contradictory to the recommendations of Goa Police and other officials of the home ministry.
‘Considering the gravity of the nexus involving local politicians, police and the drugs mafia, we had recommended that the case be handed over to the CBI. There are local pressures involved, which could affect the investigating officials of police,’ a senior police official told IANS.
Not just police and home ministry officials, legislator Agnelo Fernandes too had asked the government to hand over the nexus probe to the CBI.
Speaking to IANS Thursday, Fernandes said: ‘The local police will not be able to investigate their own officers who are linked to the narcotics mafia. Only the CBI will be able to do justice to the nexus probe.’
The probe which is being conducted by the crime branch of police currently, has already seen the arrest of seven policemen and two drug dealers over the last two months.
A Swedish model and former girlfriend of an Israeli drug dealer, whose spycam videos busted the nexus, has alleged that a son of a leading politician was linked to the narcotics trade in Goa.
Goa, a well-known beach destination attracting nearly 2.4 million tourists annually, is also known for easy availability of narcotics.
