Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Two masterminds, Priya Yadav and Deepashri Sawant, also known as Gawas, were detained by Goa police on Monday for masterminding the scam, days after Pooja Naik was caught in a jobs-for-cash case and government employee Shridhar Satarkar was believed to have committed suicide.
Sawant, who also remained in hiding and had a lookout notice against her, was caught by the Ponda police, while Yadav, who was arrested by the Bicholim police, was later placed under seven days of police custody.
Three cars and about 116 grams of gold, worth about Rs 9 lakh, were taken from Yadav’s hands by the Bicholim police. Her arrest came after Laxmi Dalawai, a Karnataka native and Bicholim resident, filed a complaint on August 22 alleging that Yadav and his accomplice Rohan Rajendra Venji had defrauded her and several others out of Rs 20.70 lakh between July 2023 and June 20, 2024. In exchange for a hefty sum of money, the defendants allegedly promised government railway positions.
Following that, the Bicholim police filed a complaint against the two of them under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code for cheating and Section 34 for joint intention.
According to SP North Akshat Kaushal, the team discovered during the inquiry that Yadav had reportedly mortgaged gold ornaments stolen from victims and locals in order to obtain gold loans. The weight of the recovered gold was around 116 grams.
Under the guise of offering jobs or shops in the railway industry, accused lady Priya Yadav defrauded numerous Bicholim locals out of almost Rs 1 crore, according to the investigation, he added.
She had no personal bank accounts or cars registered in her name, according to the investigation, which the police believe may have been an attempt to avoid detection.
Priya allegedly misled victims by pretending to be the owner of a site close to Kolhapur railway station, which she claimed was being considered for purchase by railway authorities, according to Bicholim police. “Yadav gave false assurances to her victims that in exchange for her plot, the railway authorities promised her 10 railway jobs and several shops, which she could allocate to victims,” according to the police.
Yadav brought complainant Laxmi to the Kolhapur train station in the current FIR, where she showed her a fictitious plot. Laxmi trusted the story and gave Yadav Rs 10 lakh for her children’s two railway jobs, along with their certificates. Later, Yadav requested an extra Rs 6 lakh for supplementary documentation. The victim paid the accused more than 20 lakh in total.
