is CBI trying to please Soniaji!!

LHO, SBI, Pt.J N Marg,
Bhubaneshwar
Orissa - India

Enter into the lift. Press 3. Now you reached- Come out- Push the door- the third table. There I was sitting today after returning from the Bhubaneswar court. Suddenly I came across an Oriya newspaper. News relating to the clean chit to Mr. Ottavio Quattrocchi…

The Interpol, at the request of the CBI, has removed the name from the long standing red corner notice to arrest Mr. OQ. But why? Why is the CBI not interested to arrest Mr. OQ? Is CBI trying to please Soniaji? Simply I don't know...

The Bofors scandal was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s. The defeat of Gandhi's ruling Indian National Congress party in the November 1989 general elections made it special and imperative than any other. In 1984, a tender was floated for howitzer guns for the Indian Army. Despite objections from the army itself, the order went to Bofors. A $1.4 billion contract was signed between the Indian government and Swedish arms company AB Bofors for the supply of over 400 15-mm howitzers. The scandal erupted in 1987 when a Swedish radio report claimed that the company had paid bribes to secure the contract. The incident was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB.

Among several others chargesheeted, the CBI named Quattrocchi as the conduit for the Bofors bribe, who was an Italian businessman who represented the petrochemicals firm Snamprogetti. The major part of the scandal was in the bank account of Mr. OQ. But he was not arrested because he was close to the family of Mrs. Sonia, the wife of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Mr. OQ emerged as a powerful broker in the '80s between big business and the Indian government. In July 1993, he escaped from India. After this incident to the shake of doing something, CBI issued a “Red Corner” Notice but did not submit the documents in time.

In 1997, the Swiss banks released some 500 documents after years of legal wrangling and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a case against Mr. OQ.

The CBI in December 2005, requested the British Government that two British bank accounts of Mr. OQ be de-frozen on the grounds of insufficient evidence to link these accounts to the Bofors payoff. The two accounts, containing € 3 million and $1 million, had been frozen in 2003 by a high court order by request of the Indian government. The accounts were de-frozen on January 11, 2006. On January 16, the Indian Supreme Court directed the Indian government to ensure that MR.OQ did not withdraw money from the two bank accounts in London. Even after this the CBI, on January 23, 2006 admitted that roughly Rs 21 Crore, about USD $4.6 million, in the two accounts have already been withdrawn. The British Government released the funds based on a request by the Indian Government. At the time a Congress-led alliance was in power, and Sonia Gandhi, as President of the Congress Party, faced considerable criticism for this sudden U-turn by the Indian government.

However, on January 16, 2006, CBI claimed in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court that they were still pursuing extradition orders for Mr. OQ. MR.OQ was detained in Argentina on 6 February 2007, but the news of his detention was released by the CBI only on 23 February, stoking claims that it may have been suppressed by the ruling Congress government because of state elections. Mr. OQ has been released by Argentinian police.

Now, this clean chit to Quattrocchi has raised the question who will investigate the so called “Central BI”? Let the CBI come to the fore and make its intention clear before the people of India...