Goa drug nexus case: Complaint filed against two ministers

The Congress party in Goa filed a complaint with the CBI against two BJP state ministers alleging their role in the drug peddler-policemen-politician nexus case of 2010.

Panaji: The Congress party in Goa on Saturday filed a complaint with the CBI against two BJP state ministers alleging their role in the drug peddler-policemen-politician nexus case of 2010.

The complaint filed by Congress spokesman Sudip Tamhankar names two ministers - Laxmikant Parsekar and Dayanand Mandrekar -- demanding an inquiry against them.

While Parsekar, a former BJP Goa unit chief is Health Minister, Mandrekar is Minister for Art and Culture in the state.

Tamhankar has claimed that the drug nexus case which was earlier investigated by Goa Police`s Crime Branch and now probed by CBI has the statement of the witnesses who has alleged involvement of Mandrekar and Parsekar.

The Congress spokesman has said that the Crime Branch and CBI has investigated only the role of policemen in the nexus.

Tamhankar said there is enough evidence on record to indict both the ministers in the nexus.

The deadly nexus was exposed three years back when Israeli drug lord Yaniv Benaim alias Atala confessed on a spy cam about his links with the policemen.

He claimed that the policemen were supplying him drugs, which he used to push in the coastal belt.

During the investigations, name of Goa`s then Home Minister Ravi Naik`s son, Roy had surfaced. The CBI has taken the statement of Roy.

Both ministers, when contacted, refused to comment on the complaint with CBI, claiming that "they are yet to see the complaint copy”.

The BJP, on the other hand, has firmly stood by its ministers.

Party`s Goa spokesman Narendra Sawaikar said that there is no material or substance in the complaint.

"I have seen both the ministers personally in public life. Their conduct is clean and people of Goa know about it," he said, giving clean chit to both the ministers.

PTI

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