PANAJI: Leader of Opposition in the Goa Assembly Michael Lobo and his MLA wife Delilah Lobo have been booked for alleged land filling and tree-cutting, state Town and Country Planning Minister Vishwajit Rane said on Monday.
The minister said the incident took place in Parra village in North Goa district, while Lobo denied the allegations.
"In violation of sections 17A and 17B of the TCP Act, 1974, an FIR has been filed against Michael Lobo and his wife Delilah Lobo for Landfilling and Tree cutting in Parra. The Congress Party's vision for destruction of the state of Goa will never be a reality," Rane tweeted.
Michael Lobo and his wife are Congress MLAs from Calangute and Siolim respectively.
"A similar case is survey 92 of Marra purchased by an influential person, is approximately 90,000 m2 in size. The area is under natural cover and illegally converted as ODP (Outline Development Plan) for settlement. We will submit this to the committee for review. Such transgression will not be tolerated," Rane said in another tweet.
When contacted, Lobo refuted allegations against him and his wife, adding that he would meet Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on the issue as "Rane is targeting the opposition".
Meanwhile, reacting to the case against Lobo and his wife, Goa Congress chief Amit Patkar tweeted "Who sold Sattari's pride, Vagheri Hills to outsiders? Where was so called Concerned Minister @visrane then? Whose vision for destruction was that? He should answer these questions first. As usual he is hasty and confused."
In another tweet, Patkar said "protecting Goa's forest and land from BJP remains Congress's primary commitment".
Reacting to Patkar, Rane tweeted that the former should get his facts correct.
"I do understand coming out of the blue and running a national party is not easy. It is important you get your facts straight or else will be forced to file a defamation against you," Rane said in his tweet.