Louis Berger case: Goa police in process of seeking narco tests on Churchill Alemao

Panaji: The CID-Crime Branch is in the process of seeking the state court's nod to carry out narco analysis tests on former Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, former minister Churchill Alemao and JICA former project director Anand Wachasunder, in connection with the Louis Berger bribery scam.

The statements of Wachasunder have already been recorded under section 164 before the Judicial Magistrate, Superintendent of Police (SP) Kartik Kashyap said, adding, the Crime Branch are in the process of applying for permission to carry out narco analysis tests on Wachasunder and Alemao, both named as accused in the recently filed preliminary chargesheet, as well as Kamat, who has been named as a suspect.

Permission to carry out these tests has to be given by the respective individual subjects and are sought by the police through a court. If the permission is granted, the trio will be shifted to Gandhinagar in Gujarat to carry out the tests.

The Crime Branch has already arrested Alemao, the former Goa PWD Minister, and Wachasunder, who are currently lodged in jail. A local court had granted anticipatory bail to Kamat, which has been challenged in the High Court.

Officials of the New Jersey-based Louis Berger, in a submission before a US court, had admitted paying bribe to an Indian 'minister' to win consultancy for the line laying project in Goa and Guwahati.

The Rs 1,031-crore project, funded by Japan International Co-Operation Agency (JICA), was approved when the Kamat government was in power, for augmenting the water supply in south Goa and laying sewerage lines in the state's major cities.