For the second time in recent months, a disciplinary hearing for former Osoyoos RCMP Const. Amit Goyal has been postponed.
There is currently no date set for the conduct hearing for Goyal, who has been collecting his salary while under suspension since June 2013. Goyal was originally scheduled to appear at the federal court in Vancouver on July 28. Days before the scheduled hearing, it was postponed to Aug. 31. Last week the hearing was postponed again to an undermined date.
RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Rob Vermeulen confirmed that the hearing had been adjourned, but was unable to provide further information about a new date or reason for the adjournment. Goyal was suspended following an incident late in 2012 when two vehicles were reported stolen from his residence on Cottonwood Drive a week apart. The vehicles were later found burned on Anarchist Mountain.
Initially, Steve Condon, a local man who had had run-ins with Goyal and who has a criminal record, was fingered as the suspect. Condon was later cleared following an investigation by Trail RCMP in which he submitted to a lie detector test.
Goyal has not been charged with any criminal offences and none of the allegations about him have been proven in court.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
