Quattrocchi issue resurfaces in LS

NEW DELHI: The Ottavio Quattrocchi issue resurfaced in the Lok Sabha on Saturday with BJP and SP members seeking government's reaction to a website claim that the key Bofors case accused had hatched a conspiracy with the LTTE to assassinate former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Raising the matter during Zero Hour, BJP leader VK Malhotra and SP's Ramji Lal Suman said the conspiracy was hatched by Italian businessman Quattrocchi and LTTE's intelligence chief Anton Balasingham in a five-star hotel in Paris.

They quoted the website as saying that it had evidence from the French intelligence agency to support its claim.

Malhotra and Suman said since the French government had not so far commented on the report, the government should investigate the matter and inform the House.

"The matter is very serious, but the government has not yet responded to it," Malhotra said adding HRD Minister Arjun Singh had reportedly said the government would get it investigated.

The BJP leader wanted a formal response from the government on the matter.