PANJIM: Margao MLA Digambar Kamat’s fear of being arrested during the initial stage of the Louis Berger bribery probe was probably the reason he stayed away from the monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly.
During one of his interrogation sessions, sources said, Kamat had conceded to Crime Branch (CB) that he won’t attend the session till the special court pronounces the verdict on his plea seeking anticipatory bail.
“I have not attended (the assembly session). I will attend after my anticipatory bail application is decided,” Kamat had said to one of the queries on his absence from the assembly.
After repeated denials to the media, the former chief minister applied for pre-arrest bail before the Special Court on August 4 to prevent CB’s possible move to arrest him. By then, Kamat had already undergone two grilling sessions on July 29 and August 3, and the CB officials had stated he was not cooperating with the investigation.
On July 27, when former JICA Project Director Anand Wachasundar was arrested, when the monsoon session of the assembly was on, the MLA had attended the proceedings. The CB had then summoned former PWD minister Churchill Alemao and Kamat for questioning at its Ribandar headquarter on July 28, which the latter didn’t turn up for.
Kamat was issued another summons to appear on July 29. Till the last minute he denied to a section of the media but joined the probe at 4:30pm. Since the session was in process, the summons were issued through the Speaker. After remaining absent for half the session till August 4, Kamat did not attend the assembly till the end of the session on August 14. For a couple of days, CB had even deployed its personnel at the assembly complex.
During his interrogation, while his plea was pending hearing, the Congress leader to a question had conceded he was acting on his lawyer’s instructions. “Don’t you think you are not cooperating with the investigation?” was the question to which Kamat had replied, “I am acting as per the instructions of my lawyers.”
Interestingly, Kamat had also refused to disclose bank accounts in his and his family members’ name stating he had to consult his lawyers.
“Interrogation of Kamat reveals that he has opted not to cooperate with the investigation as he is under interim relief of bail orally pronounced by the special court and just doing the formality to appear for interrogation and to make his case before the special court that he is cooperating with the investigating authority,” an official disclosed.
Another case diary also mentions that Kamat was not cooperating with the investigation ‘as he chose to remain silent on some specific questions’.
