The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested former Air Force chief SP Tyagi in connection with the AgustaWestland chopper deal bribery case.
Tyagi, who retired in 2007, was questioned by the CBI extensively in the past in this case.
Along with Tyagi, his cousin Sanjiv alias Julie Tyagi and lawyer Gautam Khaitan were also arrested.
"This is for first time a former IAF chief has been arrested by the central probe agency," official sources said.
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.
All the three accused have been arrested under Section 120B, Section 420 IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, informs CBI.
Retired Air Marshal Tyagi is accused of receiving illegal payments for helping AgustaWestland win the Rs. 3,600 crore chopper contracts by tailoring specifications so that company could be included in the bids.
“Arrested accused will be produced tomorrow before competent court in Delhi,” CBI spox Devpreet Singh said.
According to the reports, 70 million Euros (about Rs 360 crore) were allegedly paid as kickbacks.
Earlier, Enforcement Directorate had registered a PMLA case in this regard in 2014 and named 21 people including Tyagi in its money laundering FIR.
Further details are awaited...
