New Delhi: CBI has issued look-out notices for former IAF Chief SP Tyagi, his three cousins and five other Indians who have been named in its FIR in the alleged kickbacks received by them in Rs 3600 crore VVIP chopper deal. CBI sources said a look-out notice has been issued to prevent them from leaving the country from any airport.
They said it is a routine practice followed by the agency in cases where it fears that the accused can leave the country to escape prosecution. Air Chief Marshal (retd) S P Tyagi this Wednesday became the first Air Chief to be booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), along with 12 others, for alleged cheating, corruption and criminal conspiracy in the deal and searches were carried out at 14 locations including his residence.
The former Air Chief, his cousins Sanjeev alias Julie, Rajeev alias Docsa and Sandeep, European middlemen Carlo Gerosa, Christian Michel and Guido Haschke were among 13 individuals named in the FIR as accused, CBI sources said. The CBI alleged that during his tenure as Air Chief, the Air Force agreed "to reduce the service ceiling for VVIP helicopters from 6000 meters to 4500 meters as mandatory to which it was opposing vehemently on the grounds of security constraints and other related reasons," an agency source said.
It alleged that reduction of service ceiling maximum height at which a helicopter can perform normally allowed UK-based AgustaWestland to come into the fray as, otherwise, its helicopters were not even qualified for submission of bids. Two new names, which were not part of the agency's preliminary inquiry, have also been included in the FIR.
They include Satish Bagrodia, brother of former Union Minister Santosh Bagrodia, and Pratap Aggarwal, chairman and managing director of IDS Infotech respectively, it said. Six companies including Italy-based Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland, Mohali-based IDS Infotech, Chandigarh-based Aeromatrix, IDS Tunisia and IDS Mauritius have also been booked by the CBI in its FIR, CBI sources said.
CEO of Aeromatrix Praveen Bakshi and former Finmeccanica Chairman Giuseppe Orsi, former AgustaWestland CEO Bruno Spagnolini and legal advisor and former board member of IDS Infotech Gautam Khaitan are also named as accused, they said. All the accused have refuted allegations against them. CBI has alleged that Khaitan, Bagrodia, Aggarwal and Bakshi facilitated the middlemen for bringing bribe money to India.
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