Goa IGP accused of taking Rs 5.5 lakh bribe for registering FIR

Panaji: The Goa government ordered a probe after a businessman on Thursday accused IGP Sunil Garg of demanding and accepting Rs 5.5 lakh in bribe for registering a First Information Report in a cheating case.

Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar ordered the speedy probe, even as the Inspector General of Police Garg, while speaking to IANS, denied the allegation.

Munnalal Halwai, who runs a business establishment in the port town of Vasco, 35 km from the state capital, said he paid the bribe to Garg in two instalments in 2015, including once in the senior police official's cabin at the police headquarters in Panaji.

"Garg first demanded 10 per cent of Rs 1.15 crore, the amount I was cheated of, for registration of the FIR. After bargaining he agreed to have the FIR registered at the Ponda police station for around Rs 5 lakh," Halwai told reporters at a press conference in Panaji, where he also played out an audio clip, which purportedly contained the recording of a conversation between Garg and himself, at the police headquarters in September 2015.

Garg denied any wrong-doing. "I flatly deny the allegation," Garg said. The official did not deny meeting Halwai.

In a statement issued here, Congress spokesperson Sunil Kawthankar demanded the immediate suspension of Garg.

"We are shocked to learn about Goa's IGP demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 5 lakh to register an FIR. No wonder how the prostitution, drugs, matka and illegal activities are flourishing in the state. We strongly demand the immediate suspension of IGP Sunil Garg and would write to the chief minister about the same."

"Allegations are serious. I'll have to go into it. Whenever I come across such situations, it is the police which guides me. When the allegations are against police, I will have to consult some other officer," Parsekar told IANS.