On Monday, the CBI quizzed the former IAF chief SP Tyagi over the “foreign remittances” into his account, after two years of his retirement.
This was the fourth time , Tyagi was questioned regarding the alleged payoffs in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland helicopter deal that had led to a political war between the Congress and the BJP.
Tyagi, questioned for around four hours at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters, was asked about the source of the funds that came to his account in the year 2009, two years after he retired.
Last week, from Monday to Wednesday, the CBI questioned the former Air Chief Marshal. He answered to the questions from the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday.
The agency confronted Tyagi, with account statements and sought to know the explanation. He Refused to reveal the amount, so CBI has not been able to dig into the details even three years after the registration of the case. The officials said that they are looking at these issues with a new perspective after the Milan Court of Appeals order.
Even, he was asked about the source of these funds and reasons behind the remittances, and also his travels to Italy after his retirement.
The court names Tyagi at several instances mentioning the meetings and interactions with alleged European middlemen and officials of Finmeccanica, parent firm of AgustaWestland.
The chairman of IDS Infotech Ltd (India), Pratap Kumar Aggarwal, CEO of Aeromatrix Info Solution Pvt Ltd and Praveen Bakshi who were under the scanner for allegedly helping in routing the bribe amount from AgustaWestland to various suspected Indian beneficiaries were also questioned on Monday.
CBI said that, Aggarwal and Bakshi have been called for questioning again on Tuesday along with a city-based lawyer Gautam Khaitan, who had been questioned on four days until Saturday. CBI sources said, Aggarwal and Bakshi were asked about the nature of services and their companies provided to AgustaWestland.
The former IAF chief has been accused in Italy and India for helping AgustaWestland chopper deal by reducing the flying ceiling of the helicopter from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres (15,000 feet).
CBI had registered a case against Tyagi along with 13 others including his cousins, Bakshi, Aggarwal and European middlemen - Guido Haschke, Carlo Gerosa and Chritian Michel.
The allegation against Tyagi is that he reduced the flying ceiling of the helicopter from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres (15,000 feet) which put AgustaWestland
Mayuka.
