US Bribery Case: 'I'm Being Framed,' Says Former Goa Minister

Mumbai: As the controversy over the US bribery case - in which an US company bribed a minister of officials of Goa for projects -- grows, former Congress minister Churchill Alemao has said he is being framed in the case.

Mr Alemao was the Public Works Department minister at the time US-based company Louis Berger had won a water project in the state. It was later found that the company had bribed a minister and at least two officials to win the contract. Charged by the US Department of Justice, the company has admitted guilt.

Today, Mr Alemao told NDTV that he had never heard of the company and had "nothing to do with it". The "technical people" gave the contract for consultancy, he added.

His party, too, hit back, with former Union minister Kapil Sibal saying, "There must be case of a corruption lodged in Goa  and he (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) must ask his friend Barack (US president Barack Obama) to give all the documents and the same must be done in Maharashtra."

The state's ruling BJP had hinted that either Mr Alemao or former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat was involved in the bribery. Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and his predecessor Manohar Parrikar - who is currently the Union defence minister -- have demanded a CBI probe into the case.

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"Since the work was related to JICA (Japan International funding project), then PWD Minister might be involved," Mr Parrikar had said on Sunday, adding that there was also a possibility that more than one minister was involved.  "It should now be revealed who took the bribe," Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar had added.

The chief minister later clarified that he was "not making allegations" against Mr Kamat or Mr Alemao. "They held the portfolios so I feel they have to clarify," he told NDTV.

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Luis Berger was part of a consortium for the Goa water supply and sewerage project - a five-year plan initiated by the Union government in collaboration with the government of Japan.