Key witness in Goa drug nexus contacted after two months

PANAJI - The Goa police, repeatedly accused of sabotaging investigation into the police-politician-narcotics mafia nexus, has contacted a crucial witness nearly two months after the probe was initiated in March.

IANS has access to documents which reveal that the Goa police contacted Lucky Farmhouse, a 33-year-old Swedish model and former girlfriend of Israeli drug dealer Yaniv Benaim, only Tuesday (May 11) and that too after the whistleblower model complained to the media that the Goa police were “not trying to find me at all”.

Lucky’s spycam videos of Atala boasting of his links to the police and politicians had exposed the nexus, resulting in the arrest of six policemen, including a police inspector - Ashish Shirodkar, who formerly headed the anti-narcotics operation, and Atala himself.

In their e-mail sent to Lucky dated May 11, the crime branch requested the Swedish model to come to Goa with all the spycam videos shot by her that prove the involvement of police and politicians in Goa’s narcotics mafia.

“She is an important witness. We have sent her some questions. When she comes… we have asked her to come with all the evidences (spycam videos) which she has,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Chandrakant Salgaonkar told IANS Wednesday.

Salgaonkar also said that full security would be provided to Lucky when she comes to Goa with the sensational videos. The model has also said that she has spycam videos of a leading politician’s son conducting transactions with drug dealers in Goa.

In his e-mail to Lucky, Salgaonkar has also said that the police were seriously probing the involvement of politicians in the narcotics mafia and asked Lucky to co-operate.

“In her reply to our e-mail today, Lucky said that she would be able to return to India only by August. We have requested her to come early. August might be too late,” he said.

The local media and the opposition have repeatedly accused the police of sabotaging and ‘going slow’ on the investigation.

Leader of opposition Manohar Parrikar has also demanded the arrest of Salgaonkar for allegedly trying to sabotage the probe in order to save a leading politician and asked the state government to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).