Team Herald
PANJIM: Crime Branch has decided that to nail former chief minister Digambar Kamat in the Louis Berger case, it has to first get his associates. After Kamat’s brother-in-law Gaurish ‘Pinky’ Lawande was raided, CB sleuths on Wednesday knocked on the door of the former chief minister’s close aide Nitin Naik.
The documents seized during the raid at Naik’s house, flat, office and cement godown in Margao raise strong suspicions that Kamat allegedly parked large amounts of money with Naik. Sources said separate CB teams at the four locations have collected evidence indicating that Kamat used Naik as a ‘conduit’.
“Naik is a front for Kamat. Huge benami transactions have taken place and crores of rupees were invested in his bank account. The investment is in some company/companies that do not exist. All these facts are being verified to ascertain links to the scam,” an officer told Herald even as the raid was in progress.
Lawande, whose residence and office were also raided last month, is being probed for his alleged role into the multi-crore international scam. An interim chargesheet is likely to be filed on September 23 to ensure the two persons who have been arrested – former JICA chief engineer Anand Wachasundar and former PWD minister Churchill Alemao – are denied bail. CB has so far raided the residences and offices of Wachasundar, Alemao, Kamat, Lawande, tax consultant Dayesh Naik and now Naik.
