PANJIM: It has been almost two-and-a-half months since investigations and inquiries began in the Louis Berger bribery case, and two of his close aides were raided, but former chief minister Digambar Kamat has succeeded in evading arrest.
While Crime Branch seems to be on the right track in investigations, the former chief minister, who has visited various temples since the JICA case began, appears to have much more than mere luck on his side.
The FIR in the case against an unknown minister for allegedly taking a bribe for awarding JICA consultancy contracts and also against officials of Louis Berger International was registered on July 21.
Since then CB has arrested four persons – former PWD Minister Churchill Alemao, former JICA project Director AM Wachasundar, alleged hawala dealer Raichand Soni and Louis Berger vice-president Satyakam Mohanty.
While Soni and Satyakam have been granted bail, Alemao and Wachasundar remain in custody while Kamat continues to elude jail.
There have been raids on Kamat’s aides – businessman Nitin Naik and brother-in-law Gaurish (Pinky) Lawande – and Margao Municipal Council Chairman Arthur D’Silva was called for questioning.
First to be questioned in the case was D’Silva to ascertain whether he had an authority letter from Kamat to file and receive information under RTI connected to the Louis Berger bribery case.
Police said that during the course of interrogation, D’Silva failed to produce the authority letter under which he collected the RTI information. D’Silva filed a RTI application on behalf of Kamat to seek information whether any JICA project file was in the possession of the Goa Water Supply and Sewerage Project Authority. D’Silva applied and got conditional anticipatory bail.
Lawande was also raided by the Enforcement Directorate, probing money laundering in the Louis Berger bribery case. Documents of properties worth crores of rupees were seized by ED from his residence and offices, besides foreign currency equivalent to Rs 8.43 lakh. Lawande has also been extensively questioned in the case so far.
Thereafter, the Crime Branch raided Kamat’s close aide Naik. The raids raised strong suspicion that Kamat allegedly parked large amounts of money with Naik.
“Huge benami transactions have taken place and crores of rupees were invested in his bank account. The investor is some company/companies that do not exist. All these facts are being verified to ascertain links to the scam,” sources in Crime Branch said.
IT sources told Herald that bank statements indicate that a Yellapur-based company – Dream Logistics – had allegedly transferred Rs 2.50 crore into Naik’s account in 2010. Within a span of two months, Naik’s bank details showed a balance of Rs 4.50 crore.
Despite all this evidence and the raids, Kamat has successfully eluded arrest though the evidence against him is stronger than that against Alemao.
In the chargesheet filed in the case Kamat has been named as a suspect simply because CB has not been able to question him in custody.
CB appears to have made all efforts to get him and are now trying to get to him by nailing his close friends. Officials in the CB say they are hopeful of nailing him following the discovery of the new notings on a file signed by Kamat.
“The investigations are on right track and we are hopeful to get his custody soon,” said an official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
