Louis Berger bribery case: Parsekar pats police, sees no need for CBI probe

Panaji: With Goa police making progress in the probe into Louis Berger pay off scam and arresting four people including former minister Churchil Alemao, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar today said there was no need to hand over the case to CBI as the investigation had been moving in the right direction.[caption id=“attachment_2350736” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.[/caption] “Crime Branch is moving in the right direction in the case. I am not going to interfere with them. There is no point in handing it over to CBI,” Parsekar told PTI in Panaji. “The case should be handled by the Goa Police and chargesheet filed in the state itself,” he said, adding, “I had given the case to Crime Branch so that they can make a base for further investigations by CBI.” Goa Police’s Crime Branch is probing the high-profile case in which four persons including Alemao, the then PWD Minister, and an ex-executive of US-based management consultancy firm Louis Berger, have been arrested so far. Also,the investigation is closing in on former chief minister Digmabar Kamat, who headed the previous Congress-led ministry. He has moved an anticipatory bail plea in a local court and obtained interim protection from arrest till 8 August. Investigators have twice questioned Kamat, during whose tenure the bribery scandal took place. The Congress’s Goa unit, however, has accused the Crime Branch of “acting selectively” and demanded a CBI probe covering the entire gamut of the scam including renegotiation of works by the present BJP-led Government. In its submission before the court, the Crime Branch had said that former officials of the US firm had allegedly paid Rs 50-60 lakhs each as bribe to Kamat, who was the chief minister between 2007 and 2012, and Alemao, the then PWD Minister. Also, opposing his anticipatory bail plea, the Crime Branch described Kamat as a “habitual offender involved in corrupt practices” and alleged he had “actively participated” in the conspiracy and was among the beneficiaries in the Louis Berger bribery case. Enforcement Directorate(ED) had on Friday lodged an FIR relating to money laundering in the bribery case. PTI