On Wednesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) anti-corruption team in Goa stated that they are facing a unique problem as they have very little to do in the state. The CBI Goa unit also said that tolerance to corruption among the people of Goa is very high and that they had been sitting basically idle as no complaints of corruption had been reported in the recent past.
“The tolerance to corruption among people of Goa is very high. We are sitting idle, as there is not a single complaint of bribery or disproportionate assets in the state against officers from the people for the past five years”, Adesh Kumar, SP of CBI Goa was quoted as saying.
Goa | For the last 5 years, we have not received a single complaint of bribery or disproportionate assets here. That means there is no corruption in Goa… public tolerance towards corruption is very great. Central govt depts are not corrupt here: SP (CBI) Ashesh Kumar (02.11) pic.twitter.com/pa59H7Kocm
— ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2022
According to the reports, the last complaint was received by the CBI unit in the year 2018, and only three complaints had come to the CBI for investigation in the past three months. “For the past five years, we have not received a single complaint about bribery. We have also not received a single complaint about disproportionate assets. That means there is no corruption in Goa”, Kumar said.
He also added that the people of the state were quite satisfied and that this is ‘Ram Rajya’ as people are not aggrieved and that their tolerance towards corruption is very great here. “Are we to suggest that there is no bribery taking place in Goa and that Goa has turned into Ram Rajya?”, Adesh Kumar, SP of CBI Goa said while he was addressing an event that was organized to observe ‘Vigilance Awareness Week’.
Notably, the CBI unit of Goa is very small and consists of only five investigating officers. Kumar noted that there is no scope for expansion of the team until more crucial cases are received for investigation. According to Kumar, the three complaints received recently were related to financial fraud. “Two cases were referred by Canara bank for fraud and third is a minor complaint of sufficient provident fund contribution not being made by a company”, the SP said.
He meanwhile pointed out that there were many banks in the state and that their employees were charging huge illegal commissions for sanctioning loans of Rs 1 crore or above. “But in Goa, there are no complaints being registered. Many officers are purchasing expensive flats here. But no one is complaining”, he said.
The Superintendent of Police appealed to the public to come forward fearlessly and provide information about such incidents. “CBI will act based on oral information without any written complaint. We can take suo moto action but we have to receive information at least. If a person is being asked for a bribe, how would we know”, he said.
The CBI is currently prosecuting 80 corruption cases in the state, while only eight are being investigated. The agency is also looking into several cases handed over by the Goa high court, including the death of Swedish national Felix Dahl, who was allegedly murdered in south Goa in 2015. The CBI’s anti-corruption branch can investigate and prosecute corruption complaints against central government employees and central government entities such as banks, insurance companies, and central government PSUs among others.
