Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The Crime Branch has shut the door on sensational allegations made by cash-for-jobs accused Pooja Naik, concluding that her claims of paying ₹17.68 crore in bribes to a minister and two senior bureaucrats were not backed by a shred of evidence. Instead, investigators say the trail leads squarely to Naik herself.
Addressing reporters on Tuesday, Crime Branch SP Rahul Gupta said the inquiry showed Naik had “created an elaborate façade” to convince hundreds of job seekers that she had access to government recruitment networks.
“Every document, digital trail, and financial transaction examined so far points to only one conclusion — she duped aspirants by promising government jobs in exchange for money. No evidence whatsoever links any government official to her story,” Gupta stated. No FIR will be filed against the officials she named.
Rather, the CB is now weighing legal options to recover the crores Naik allegedly pocketed.
According to investigators, bank accounts belonging to Naik, her husband Purushottam, and their daughters saw transactions worth ₹8.06 crore between 2019 and 2024 — but none going to the officers she accused. Despite claiming payments from 613 job seekers, she offered only vague explanations when confronted with the high-value deposits, including that her husband “sold fish” and she kept commissions.
The probe also documented the family’s rapid rise in assets: six luxury cars, three JCB machines, jewellery exceeding ₹1 crore, and over ₹1 crore spent on properties in Mandur, Betki and Dongri — estimated vehicle value alone topping ₹3 crore.
The 2024 Mardol cheating case against Naik has now been handed over to the Crime Branch for deeper investigation, and Gupta urged victims to come forward.
Investigators also dismantled key pillars of Naik’s narrative. Her claim of working at the MGP office in St Inez in 2012 and being introduced to officials through Minister Sudin Dhavalikar was ruled out — no staffer recalled her, and no records matched. Her alleged diary with names of 613 aspirants also crumbled; the woman she said held it, “Tanvi Naik,” could not be traced, and Naik later admitted she did not personally know anyone by that name.
A phone she claimed contained videos of cash handovers was traced to Saharanpur, where it had been sold in 2025 for ₹27,000. The device was recovered but had been wiped clean before resale. Call records from 2023–2025 similarly showed no communication with the officials she accused.
PCR call logs painted a different picture — Naik frequently sought police help when angry candidates demanded refunds. She even stayed in a hotel for months to evade them, paying nearly ₹4 lakh and skipping out on dues of over ₹2 lakh.
Naik currently faces five criminal cases across the State, including four for cheating and one for abetment to suicide. Her husband has two pending cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act.
