Goemkarponn Desk
MARGAO: The Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho stated on Friday that the case involving the electricity rebate fraud had reached a dead end because several witnesses were unable to be located.
Four more witnesses who were untraceable have been discovered by the authorities looking into the 1998 power rebate scam. With this, there are now ten untraceable witnesses in all. Ten additional brand-new witnesses have already received summonses requesting their appearance before the South Goa Special Court in Margao on September 8.
Earlier in the case, the Special Court had questioned some witnesses. Manohar Parrikar, who was the leader of the opposition at the time, revealed the scam in 1998. In 2001, the Crime Branch filed a FIR against the former minister of power in the Congress administration, who is now a minister in the BJP government.
It may be recalled that on July 16, 2022, the Special Court rejected the motions for release from the power fraud case submitted by Godinho, Katreddi Venkata Sahaye Krishnakumar, and M/s Glass Fibre Division (a division of Binani Zinc Ltd).
In connection with the alleged Rs 4.52 crore power rebate fraud, the Crime Branch had filed a chargesheet against Godinho, two industrial facilities, and four additional parties.
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