Chopper scam: CBI charges Tyagi, 12 others; conducts raids
13 Mar 2013
The Central Bureau today filed a first information report (FIR) against former Indian Air Force chief, Air Marshal (retd) S P Tyagi, his cousins Julie and Dosca, and 10 others for alleged cheating and criminal conspiracy in Rs3,600 crore deal with Italy's Finmeccanica for AgustaWestland helicopters for the use of top VIPs.
At least 12 teams of the agency also carried out coordinated searches at 14 locations across posh localities of Delhi, the National Capital Region (NCR) and Chandigarh, which include the residences of Tyagi and his cousins and offices of Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland, IDS Infotech and Aeromatrix among others.
Two new names, which were not part of the agency's preliminary enquiry, have also been included in the FIR. They include Satish Bagrodia, brother of former union minister Santosh Bagrodia, and Pratap Aggarwal, chairman and managing director of IDS Infotech.
Tyagi is first chief of the Indian Air Force to be named in a corruption or criminal case by the CBI.
The agency has also named four companies - Italy-based Finmeccanica, UK-based AgustaWestland and Chandigarh-based IDS Infotech and Aeromatrix in connection with the case.
The FIR says Tyagi helped in swinging chopper deal in favour of Finmeccanica subsidiary AgustaWestland by lowering the performance requirement ffrom being able to operate at heights of 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres.
