CBI said they also confessed to having property links with the former air chief
As defence minister Manohar Parrikar mounted an offensive on the Congress in the parliament over the AgustaWestland deal, in a startling revelation, the CBI sources on Friday claimed that former air chief SP Tyagi’s cousins have admitted to having property links with him.
Sanjeev (aka Juli), Docsa and Sandeep Tyagi were summoned by the central bureau of investigation (CBI) for questioning on Friday, where they admitted to “property links” with SP Tyagi. Juli also admitted to financial dealings with middlemen Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.
“The Tyagi brothers were questioned for almost nine hours today and they have been called for further clarification tomorrow as well,” a CBI source was quoted as saying. “We are not completely satisfied with Juli’s explanation regarding his financial dealings with Haschke and Gerosa,” the source added. Juli was said to be evasive during his questioning.
The development comes hours after the enforcement directorate (ED) questioned SP Tyagi for the second day on Friday in connection with the controversial Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal. ED officials questioned Tyagi for the first time in a marathon 10-hour session on Thursday, according to agency sources.
Delhi-based lawyer Gautam Khaitan, who has also been implicated in the scam, has also been recalled for further questioning. Khaitan, who was present at the headquarters on Friday, had mysteriously left the premises and returned two hours later. Speculation was rife that perhaps he had left to gather key papers CBI officials had asked for.
“Khaitan seems to be concealing information regarding financial transactions between his company and AgustaWestland,” a CBI source revealed. So far, the CBI has admitted to have questioned more than 100 people individually in this matter.
Though media reports strongly hinted that Christian Michel’s associate Christine Bredo Spliid might also be involved in the chopper scam, the CBI strongly asserted that Spliid is not a “person of interest at the moment”. The CBI stance was the same with respect to Michel’s driver, who was also questioned for evidence.
Pointing fingers at the Congress leadership, Parrikar stated that the “entire corruption” in the deal took place during the UPA tenure but former air chief Tyagi and Gautam Khaitan are “small people” who “simply washed their hands in a flowing ganga (of corruption)” and that the government will “find out where the river was going”. Parrikar also said that while the decision on the contract was taken in 2010, Tyagi had retired in 2007 and “might have got just a 'chiller' (loose change)”.
India scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland in 2014 for supplying 12 AW101 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force (IAF) over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs. 423 crore by it for securing the deal.
The central agency has also issued Letters Rogatory (judicial requests) to ten countries in this case.
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