The CBI on Monday, interrogated former IAF chief SP Tyagi for about 10 long hours over his reported association with go-between in the vexed Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper deal. He was then catechized about the fountainhead of funding for his post-retirement tour to Italy.
The chopper deal came into limelight after the Milan court accused Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh of aiding in the chopper deal.
On receiving a copy of Milan Court’s order, the CBI has prepared a new set of questions for Tyagi. He has turned down allegations on him regarding kickbacks.
Tyagi was quizzed in 2013 too, but Monday’s interrogation was the first one after the Italian court’s order.
Sources allege that it was in 2004 when Tyagi first met a representative of Agusta’s Italy based parent company Finmecanicca, when he was the then chief of the Indian Air Force.
Months after the government declared that SP Tyagi is next in the queue of Air Marshal, in January 2005, Haschke and Gerosa met him.
Months later, Tyagi also met them in an Air show in Bengaluru, where Agusta had put up a stall.
Tyagi, after his appointment as Air Marshal, met the two middlemen in his cousin’s apartment and office. In one of the three meetings, as the air chief he altered the specifications for the choppers.
The Italian court accuses Tyagi of palm-greasing at the instance of cousins Sandeep Tyagi and Sanjeev Tyagi. The two are also going to be summoned soon.
In January 2013, India nixed the chopper deal and the CBI was requested to prove the bribery charges.
Two months later, the CBI had filed an FIR against the former air chief and thirteen others including his three cousins and the European middlemen.
Firms Finmecanicca, AgustaWestland, IDS Infotech Ltd(India) and Aerimatrix India were also booked for the same.
– by Isha Kulkarni with inputs from Hindustan Times
Tags: agustawestland
