ACB team raids Goa opposition leader's residence

Panaji, Sep 16 : An Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) team of the Goa Police on Saturday, raided the residence and other related properties owned by Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar in connection with a 2013 disproportionate assets case.

Police sources said that the residence of Kavlekar, a Congress MLA from Quepem assembly constituency, and his office in Margao, were raided following a clearance from the state government to file an FIR over the case.

"Kavlekar accumulated disproportionate assets, including land worth Rs 5 crore purchased in Kerala when he was a chairman of the Goa Industrial Development Corporation. The Chief Secretary's office has given us the clearance to file an FIR in the case," ACB officials said.

While Kavlekar was unavailable for comment, state Congress president Shantaram Naik the raids were "political in nature" and there was pressure on Congress MLAs to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"The raids are clearly political in nature. This government fears it might come into a minority soon and therefore have been trying to use police action to threaten Congress MLAs into joining the BJP fold," Naik told IANS.

Naik also said that state machinery was being misused by the bjp-led coalition government for political purposes.

"The disproportionate case goes back so many years. Any investigation does not take so long. The timing and intent of the raids is condemnable," Naik added.