Goa ACB files FIR against Cong leader Chandrakant Kavlekar

Team Udayavani, Sep 16, 2017, 12:03 PM IST

Panaji: The Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Goa Police has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against senior Congress leader Chandrakant Kavlekar for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 4 crore.

The Goa Police had filed a case against Kavlekar in 2012 under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act, taking suo moto cognisance of some media reports, which alleged his involvement in illegal allotment of plots.

The ACB had started investigations against Kavlekar’s assets, including his properties in Kerala, in 2012 and submitted the preliminary inquiry report to the state government in 2013.

“We have received a go ahead from the government to file an FIR against Kavlekar in connection with the case of disproportionate assets,” Superintendent of Police (ACB), Bosco George told PTI today.

The FIR was lodged under the Prevention of Corruption Act yesterday, he said, adding that the assets are worth Rs 4 crore, which are more than his known source of income.

“We are conducting further inquiry into the matter,” he said.

George said chief secretary Dharmendra Sharma on Friday had cleared the file on registering an FIR against Kavlekar, who is also the leader of opposition in the Goa assembly.

Sources in the ACB on the condition of anonymity said that ACB sleuths would be raiding Kavlekar’s house at Betul, Quepem later today.

“He has been questioned in the past. We might call him for interrogation again,” a senior ACB official said.

When contacted, Kavlekar said that he is ready for an inquiry by the ACB or any other agency.

“I am not on the wrong side. I am ready for the inquiry,” he said, adding that the government was trying its best to demoralise the opposition through such tactics.

Kavlekar is a three-time MLA and was the chairman of state-run Goa Industrial Development Corporation in Congress’s Digambar Kamat government during 2007-12 period.

The initial investigations in 2012 revealed that Kavlekar owned a plantation worth Rs 32.5 crore in Kerala.