New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have arrested former Air Chief SP Tyagi in connection with the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper deal case.
According to The Indian exdpress, a Delhi-based lawyer, Gautam Khaitan and SP Tyagi’s cousin Sanjeev Tyagi alias Julie Tyagi was also arrested along with him. The CBI said that all the three people have been arrested for accepting illegal gratification for exercising influence through corrupt or illegal means.
“They were arrested on the allegations of who accepted illegal gratification for exercising influence through corrupt or illegal means,” said the CBI. “This is for first time a former IAF chief has been arrested by the central probe agency,” official sources said.
Tyagi’s arrest comes after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had questioned him earlier in May this year, about the VVIP helicopter deal. Tyagi, who retired in 2007, was questioned by the CBI extensively in the past in this case.
On January 1, 2014, India had scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica’s British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal. CBI had also got issued Letters Rogatory (judicial requests) to multiple countries to gather more leads and evidences in this case.