Overview
- Prime accused Pooja Naik reiterated to the Crime Branch that a cabinet minister, a senior IAS officer and a PWD engineer were involved in the alleged racket.
- Naik claims about Rs 17.68 crore was collected across roughly 613 job applications with promised refunds not returned.
- The Crime Branch questioned Naik for over three hours as police recorded her statement and said they will write to the Vigilance department for an inquiry after which sanction-based action could follow.
- Chief Minister Pramod Sawant directed a fresh investigation, said the allegations are being verified, and indicated a new FIR would be registered to examine the claims.
- Congress leader Yuri Alemao demanded a judicial probe, alleged a minister’s name was omitted from the chargesheet, and questioned the lack of action by the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department.