Monserrate demands CBI probe into Regional Plan scams

Panaji, July 31 (UNI) The lone UGDP legislator Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate, considered as architect of the now scrapped controversial Regional Plan-2011, today sought a CBI probe into all the land conversion episodes involving several hundreds of crores of rupees deals to unearth the ''real bigwigs behind the game''.

Babush, a partner in the BJP-led Goa Democratic Alliance (GDA), alleged that several ministers ''from top to bottom'' in the erstwhile government, headed by Pratapsinh Rane, besides some institutions and NGOs were involved in the scam one way or the other.

''The very ministers and beneficiary NGOs and institutions have started blaming me, though now I have no role in land conversions which could be effected through a set procedure,'' Mr Monserrate told mediapersons before leaving for Delhi along with the GDA team.

Pooh-poohing allegations that he was the architect of the plan, he said ''I had not drawn it in my drawing room. The original plan was changed at the instance of some ministers and institutions.'' ''That was why the government have immediately announced scrapping of the plan on demand by the NGOs to save their skin and started blaming me for joining the GDA. I do not want to bear this headache and be dubbed architect of the plan any longer and hence demand the probe,'' he said.

''When I resigned from the Ministry of Town and Country Planning following uproar and gave a full account of the people behind the land conversion deals, AICC general secretary in-charge of Goa Desk Margret Alva described me as a ''martyr'' and now everybody started blaming me because I had contested the elections on a UGDP ticket,'' he said.

Rubbishing the allegation that he, along with the SGF members, was indulging in offering crores of rupees as 'bait' for roping in the ruling coalition members into the GDA, Mr Monserrate said let the CBI probe all my bank accounts and all transactions.

To a poser, he alleged that Health Minister Viswajit Rane was behind land conversions and used to get Rs 14 crore as commission for one deal on a sale of Rs 12 crore.

Mr Monserrate said he had all documents to prove it and people from ''top to bottom'' were involved in the deals.

''Check all their bank accounts and transactions and everything will be known. I was not involved in conversion of even a square metre of land,'' he said.

He clarified that the GDA was not a bunch of defectors as alleged. ''We never bought the legislators into GDA,'' he said.

Ridiculing Chief Minister Digambar Kamat for indulging in blame game, Mr Monserrate said he had no moral right to talk of 'money bags and land mafia' as he himself had defected to the Congress in 2005 from the BJP.

''I am ready to demand the CBI probe into the land deals, even if Manohar Parrikar becomes the Chief Minister now,'' he said and asked ''why did the Congress governments fail to probe the transactions if I was guilty after I quit the ministry.'' ''I am open to any inquiry, as the deals involved several hundreds of crores of rupees. Inquire into the transactions of the old and new plans and punish me if I am guilty,'' he said.

He asked the media to unearth the scam by invoking the powers under the Right to Information Act.

UNI