Panaji, Aug 12 (IANS): A special court on Wednesday extended former Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat's interim bail till Thursday morning and directed him to present himself before the Crime Branch for questioning later in the day in connection with the Louis Berger bribery scam.

Kamat, along with former Public Works Department (PWD) minister Churchill Alemao and other government officials, has been accused of accepting a $976,630 bribe in 2010 from officials of US-based Louis Berger consultancy firm to secure implementation rights of a water and sewerage project in Goa.

The Rs.1,031 crore project funded by Japan International Co-Operation Agency (JICA) was cleared in 2010 by the then Congress-led coalition government.

According to Goa Police Crime Branch investigating the case, Kamat was paid over Rs.1 crore in multiple installments to ensure that Louis Berger got the consultancy rights for the project.

Kamat has rejected the allegation, claiming he, as chief minister, never cleared the file and that the project was finalised by the PWD ministry.