The Goa government will 100 per cent inquire into all evidence submitted by the Congress party linked to accusations of sexual exploitation, which forced Urban Development Minister Milind Naik to resign, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said.

Speaking to reporters late on Wednesday outside his official residence in Panaji, Sawant also said that Naik has assured him that he would battle the personal allegations levelled against him by the Congress party on his own.

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“We will 100 per cent investigate all evidence submitted (by Congress party),” Sawant told reporters.

The Chief Minister’s Office in a statement earlier had said: “Shri Milind Naik has tendered his resignation as Minister in Government of Goa, to ensure a free and fair probe, which has been accepted and sent to the Hon’ble Governor”.

On Wednesday, state Congress president Girish Chodankar had accused Milind Naik of being involved in a sex scandal, which according to the opposition party leader involved sexual exploitation of a Bihar-based woman in 2019.

The woman, whose husband was working in Goa had met with a fatal accident and she had approached the Minister for official work.

Youth Congress workers had also filed a complaint against Naik at the Women’s police station in Panaji and also submitted what they claimed was audio, video and Whatsapp chats between the Minister and the woman as evidence.

Sawant said that the Minister had submitted the resignation of his own volition. “He has said that he will fight the personal allegations levelled against him,” Sawant said.