AAP alleges victimization of Goa bureaucrat

Panaji, June 23  The AAP in Goa on Thursday accused the BJP-led government of victimizing a Goa bureaucrat sympathetic to the party by allegedly implicating him in a land scam case.

Addressing the media at the Aam Aadmi Party headquarters, spokesperson Oscar Rebello said AAP National Executive member Dinesh Vaghela was also being harassed by the government after a block development officer (BDO) issued a notice to him over illegal business establishments in a residential complex in Porvorim, located near here.

"The Goa government has launched a frivolous attack on Elvis Gomes because 

he was in touch with the AAP. It amounts to intimidation," Rebello said.

Anti-Corruption Bureau officials on Wednesday said Inspector General of Prisons Gomes and former Tourism Minister Nilkanth Halarnkar had been booked in connection with an alleged 2009 land scam.

While both have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Gomes, who was then posted as managing director Goa Housing Board, has said the complaint was "motivated" and the allegations of a scam was false.

Rebello also said that the BDO notice issued to Vaghela this week (and later withdrawn) alleging illegal commercial activity in a residential premises also amounted to harassment of the party's office bearers. 

"This is nothing short of harassment," Rebello said.