Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant today said that a new FIR has been registered and the Crime Branch has begun a detailed investigation into the fresh allegations made by cash-for-jobs scam accused Puja Naik.
Naik, who was arrested last year in connection with the multi-crore job scam, recently released a video claiming that a minister, an IAS officer, and an engineer were also involved in the racket.
She alleged that she had accepted money from job aspirants on their instructions and claimed that the minister owed her ₹17 crore, which she intended to return to the victims.
Responding to her claims, Dr. Sawant said the government would allow the investigation to proceed as per legal process and would comment only after the inquiry is complete.
“A new FIR has been registered, and the Crime Branch is investigating the matter thoroughly. Action will be taken against whoever is found guilty,” he said.
Meanwhile, Water Resources Minister Subhash Phal Dessai and Rural Development Minister Nilkanth Halarnkar denied any connection to the allegations.
Phal Dessai told reporters that he preferred not to comment on Naik’s statement but added that if his name was mentioned, he would respond accordingly. “I was not a minister in 2014,” he clarified.
Halarnkar, too, dismissed speculation linking him to the case, urging the media to verify whether his name appears in Naik’s recorded statement.
The Crime Branch confirmed that Naik’s statement was recorded at its Ribandar office on Sunday evening and that the content was being examined before deciding on further action.
The job scam, which surfaced last year, involved allegations of youth being duped of large sums under the false promise of government employment, with middlemen allegedly acting as intermediaries.
