Immediate arrest of Digambar and Churchill ruled out
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 04 August 2015 17:51 IST
Goa police has ruled out the possibility of immediate arrest of former Congress chief minister Digambar Kamat and his then cabinet colleague Churchill Alemao.
But the investigating authorities are not leaving them relaxed. Kamat was called for the second time yesterday for interrogation.
Churchill has already being interrogated thrice.
Both of them are accused of accepting bribes from Louis Berger International Inc., US-based consultancy firm.
The consultancy firm was selected to execute water supply and sewerage projects in India, funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
And while rumours of arrests of both the political heavyweights were getting strong, the crime branch of Goa police yesterday arrested Satyakam Mohanty, former vice president of Louis Berger (India).
He was picked up from Gurgaon, suspecting to be the prime culprit in allegedly giving bribes of around Rs 4 crore to Goan ministers and government officials.
Mohanty however has alleged it to be political vendetta.
He has been now remanded to three-day police custody.
He was the second official to be nabbed after A M Wachasundar, the Goa-based project director of JICA project was arrested by Goa police.
Any more arrests?
“Not immediately”, said T N Mohan, Goa’s Director General of Police.
“I don’t think there would be immediate arrests. It would all depend on how evidence leads”, he told a group of media persons today.
The DGP made it clear that there cannot be arrest without having sufficient evidence in hand.
“Any arrest depends on how much evidence we are able to gather against anybody”, said Mohan.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, whose BJP is presently also ruling the state besides the centre, had recently said the corrupt ministers would be arrested shortly.
Both Kamat and Churchill have been named in accepting bribes by two former officials of Louis Berger, in a deposition before the Goa magistrate.
But Kamat, especially, has maintained that the JICA file never came to him and he has also not signed anything related to the project.
This is an Open Letter to Mr. Parsekar CM of Goa.
Dear CM: Make Indian/Goan Police Authority an autonomous body free from political control and book any politician/s who telephones and threatens a Police Officer to carry out his desires/need/wants...T N Mohan, Goa’s Director General of Police is doing a Good Job at present...
The President of India should keep him in this job as long as he delivers justice and catch the big fish...
Also People of Goodwill must support this Officer to clean up Goa and India...
CM Parsekar should not talk about about Portuguese Nationatily but sort it out ASAP... I know so many Goan Hindus and freedom fighters who are in UK/Europe/Western World and are acquiring Portuguese Natioanatily for better prospects...
If our Goan Politicians can offer better life in Our Golden Goa free from corruption and deliver Justice...I with my Family will come and settle down in Our Golden Goa...
Jai Hind Jai Goa. José M.Cunha