The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday recorded the statement of West Bengal Governor and former National Security Advisor (NSA) MK Narayanan in connection with its probe into allegations of bribery in the ₹3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal.
CBI sources said its team went to Kolkata to record Narayanan’s statement but refused to give details. Narayanan’s statement has been recorded as a witness as he was part of the group that had gone into the tendering process before purchasing of the choppers. It was alleged that ₹360 crore was paid as bribe, following which the Government scrapped the deal in December last year.
The CBI registered a case against Ex-Indian Air Force Chief SP Tyagi, along with 12 others, including his cousins, and European middlemen in the case. The agency is now likely to record the statement of Goa Governor and former Special Protection Group (SPG) Chief BV Wanchoo, also as a witness. Both these Governors were part of the group that allowed key changes in the technical specifications of the chopper in a meeting held in 2005.
The allegation against the former Air chief was that he had reduced the flying ceiling of the helicopter so that AgustaWestland was included in the bids. Tyagi has refuted these allegations. It was also alleged that in the procurement process, some persons acted as middlemen and had allegedly influenced the deal in favour of the UK-based company. It is also alleged that an Italy-based company paid several million euros as commission to these middlemen who, from their share of the commission, allegedly paid huge sums of money to some Indian nationals in the garb of engineering contracts with two India-based companies.
The investigation agency has alleged that reduction of the service ceiling — maximum height at which a helicopter can perform normally — allowed the UK-based firm to get into the fray as, otherwise, its helicopters would not even qualify for submission of bids. The CBI has put the investigation on fast-track and has also questioned several bureaucrats.