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Facts & circumstances will be probed: CBI

Facts and circumstances as mentioned in the interview will be looked into as per due process by the CBI," said the statement issued by CBI spokeperson Abhishek Dayal.

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Two days after DNA carried an exclusive interview with private detective Michael J Hershman making sensational revelations in the Bofors scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday took cognizance and said it was planning to record statements of the detective to unearth the scam, which was hushed up by successive Congress governments. Hershman, the president and CEO of The Fairfax Group, who was assigned primarily to probe violations of currency control laws in 1987, for the first time — in an exclusive interview to DNA — claimed that "millions were paid as bribe by Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors to influential politicians and people."

Taking cognizance of the interview, the CBI in a statement said all the facts published would be taken into account. "The agency has learnt of the matter pertaining to Bofors published in DNA containing interview of Mr Michael Hershman.

Facts and circumstances as mentioned in the interview will be looked into as per due process by the CBI," said the statement issued by CBI spokeperson Abhishek Dayal.

Sources told DNA that new facts have emerged into the case and they will be put on record. "The agency will record the statements of then investigators who had exposed the case. We will record statements of Hershman and then Enforcement Directorate chief Bhure Lal and his team who were asked to leave the investigation," they said.

Both Hershman and Bhure Lal had stumbled upon millions of money stashed in foreign accounts -- paid as bribes in Bofors deal.

In 1986, the then finance minister VP Singh had authorised his subordinates to hire a private American detective agency, The Fairfax Group, to unveil the wealthy Indians who had stashed ill-gotten money in foreign banks in various tax havens and the now defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). The bank was headed by an American of Pakistani origin. Hershman had told DNA that he was tasked to find financial irregularities of

BCCI by Singh. Making a startling claim, he said that he was offered money thrice — twice to stop the investigation and once to damage the reputation of VP Singh.

Hershman was amazed that even 30 years later a proper probe was never launched. "The fact that investigation to this day, 30 years later, still has not been resolved means that there are people who are still afraid that if the truth came out, it might be adverse to their best interests," he had stated. Hershman expressed his willingness to testify and help Indian agencies on the Rs 64-crore Bofors guns pay-off scandal, provided the effort was a credible one this time.

He also clearly told DNA that when Rajiv Gandhi knew they were now looking into the bribery issues in Bofors deal, he immediately halted the probe. He even went to Parliament and accused Hershman and his company of being a front for the CIA who were acting to destabilize his government. Instead of probing bribery charges, Gandhi formed a Commission to probe role of investigators and how Fairfax was hired by former finance minister VP Singh. He also shifted Singh to the defence ministry. "So all these three thing combined to try to stop the investigation," Hershman said.

The revelations came at a time when the Central government is attempting to reopen the Bofors guns case. Recently, CBI told a parliamentary panel that it could not file an appeal against the 2005 Delhi High Court order which acquitted the Hinduja brothers and Rajiv Gandhi, as they were not permitted to do so by the then UPA government.

The American detective also claimed that the Chairman of BCCI had flown to Delhi from Pakistan with a "briefcase" and directly met Rajiv Gandhi, who, thereafter asked the BCCI employees, arrested in Mumbai for transferring illegal gratification in Bofors, to be immediately released. He also claimed that Gandhi ordered to close the probe and open the then BCCI branch in Bombay. They had been arrested by Bhure Lal.

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