PANAJI
Days after the arrest of Pooja Naik in a jobs-for-cash case and the reported suicide of government employee Shridhar Satarkar, Goa police on Monday arrested two masterminds Priya Yadav and Deepashri Sawant alias Gawas for orchestrating the scam.
Yadav, who was arrested by Bicholim police, was subsequently remanded to seven days of police custody whereas Sawant – who also remained hiding and had a look out notice against her – was arrested by the Ponda police.
The Bicholim police seized around 116 grams of gold, valued at Rs 9 lakh approx along with three vehicles from Yadav’s possession. Her arrest followed a complaint lodged by Laxmi Dalawai, a resident of Bicholim and native of Karnataka, on August 22 wherein she alleged that between July 2023 and June 20, 2024, Yadav and accomplice Rohan Rajendra Venji duped her and several others of Rs 20.70 lakh. The accused reportedly promised government railway jobs in return for a whopping cash.
The Bicholim police had thereafter registered a case against the pair under Section 420 for cheating read with Section 34 for common intention, under the Indian Penal Code.
North Goa Superintendent of Police Akshat Kaushal stated that during the investigation, the team found that Yadav had allegedly mortgaged gold ornaments taken from locals and victims to secure gold loans. The recovered gold weighed around 116 grams.
“Investigation revealed that accused lady Priya Yadav had duped many residents of Bicholim to the tune of more than Rs 1 crore on the pretext of giving job/shops in Railways,” he said.
The investigation also revealed she had no personal bank accounts or vehicles registered in her name, which the police suggest could have been an attempt to evade detection.
Kaushal stated that Yadav went into hiding after registering the FIR and remained elusive for nearly two months. A Bicholim police team, formed to trace her whereabouts, tracked her down to Phulewadi in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, using technical surveillance and intelligence. “She was brought to Goa and formally arrested for the current crime against her,” he said.
Bicholim police stated that Priya deceived victims by claiming ownership of a plot near Kolhapur railway station, which she said was under consideration for acquisition by railway authorities. "Yadav gave false assurances to her victims that in exchange for her plot, the railway authorities promised her 10 railway jobs and several shops, which she could allocate to them (victims)," the police said.
In the present FIR, Yadav took complainant Laxmi to Kolhapur railway station, where she showed her a random plot. Laxmi believed the story and paid Yadav Rs 10 lakh for two railway jobs for her children and provided their certificates. Yadav later demanded an additional Rs 6 lakh for further paperwork. In all, over 20 lakh was paid to the accused by the victim
PONDA CORRESPONDENT ADDS: Ponda Police arrested Dipashree who had been accused of cheating a person of Rs 15 lakh on the pretext of offering a teacher’s job.
According to reports, a policeman Sagar Naik was accused of having taken Rs 15 lakh from a friend's wife on the pretext of providing a teaching job at a school in Marcela.
When the job was not offered, a police complaint was filed against Sagar Naik at the Ponda police station.
Acting on the complaint, Ponda police arrested Sagar Naik on October 27 and during interrogation, it was revealed that Naik had given the money to his aunt and headmistress Sunita Pauskar, and Dipashree Sawant. Police then arrested Sunita Pauskar on October 28.
On learning that Sagar Naik and Sunita Pauskar were arrested, Dipashree went into hiding and police had issued a look-out notice against her.
Police had received the information that Dipashree was in Belagavi and a police team was sent to Belagavi twice, but could not trace her.
On Monday morning, Ponda police received information that Dipashree was travelling from Belagavi to Goa. She was detained and later arrested after reaching the Molem check post.
During investigations, police was informed that the accused Dipashree Sawant was also operating in the name of Dipashree Gawas and Dipashree Mahto.
The investigation has further revealed that Dipashsree had allegedly collected huge sums of money from many people on the pretext of giving them government jobs.
Ponda Police Inspector Vijaynath Kavalekar is conducting further investigation in this case.
