Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The High Court of Bombay at Goa dealt a blow to land-grab accused Suleman Siddique Khan, dismissing his criminal writ petition in which he had challenged what he termed his “illegal detention.”
Khan, who moved the petition nearly two months ago, had questioned the legality of his arrest and alleged that police acted against him to divert attention from other pressing issues in the State.
The accused was in the custody of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing a large land-grab racket when he escaped from the Old Goa police lock-up in December 2024. He was traced and re-arrested in Hubli within a fortnight, with the SIT branding him a “hardened criminal.”
This isn’t Khan’s first setback in court. Earlier, in April, the High Court had dismissed his plea seeking a CBI probe into the circumstances surrounding his escape. Khan had publicly claimed that the incident was orchestrated by police to shift focus away from the job scam controversy.
Khan also remains embroiled in multiple legal battles. The Judicial Magistrate First Class in Valpoi had previously rejected his bail plea in a 2021 land fraud case. Additionally, the Civil Court in Bicholim annulled 13 sale deeds tied to a 10,100 sq m property in Tivim, naming Khan as one of the respondents.
