Was yoga guru Baba Ramdev leaked information about proposed police action against a former chief minister and top bureaucrats linked to Goa's Rs.35,000 crore illegal mining scam?
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Tuesday dodged questions about the leak at a press conference, even as police Monday issued summons to former chief minister Digambar Kamat, two officials who had headed the state mines department, a law secretary and another bureaucrat to appear before the Crime Branch for being interrogated.
Ramdev, in a press conference held Jan 28, said Parrikar assured him that five to seven big fish connected with the mining scam in the state would be facing action soon.
"I had raised the issue of illegal mining during my last visit to Goa. Now, Parrikar has personally assured me that five to seven big fish in the illegal mining industry would be arrested within the next couple of months," Ramdev had said.
Parrikar Tuesday said he never told Ramdev about the proposed police action, claiming he does not interfere with police investigation.
"You must have told him," Parrikar told reporters, when asked how Ramdev could be privy to the police issuing summons.
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The summons were issued by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed in September 2013 to probe the illegal mining case, in which a judicial commission report alleged that politicians, bureaucrats as well as mining magnates are linked.
Deputy Inspector General of Police K.K. Vyas heads the four-member SIT committee. The opposition as well as civil society members have accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government of going slow in the mining probe.