The CBI has raked up the Bofors scam, saying it will look into the "facts and circumstances" of the case after a private US detective said Rajiv Gandhi had scuppered the probe.
The CBI move came a few hours after the BJP asked the Congress on Wednesday to come clean on the claims made by private detective Michael Hershman, who alleged that the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government had sabotaged his investigation into the Bofors case.
Hershman, who is currently the president of the Fairfax Group, was deployed by the finance ministry under V.P. Singh to probe the suspicious transactions of some industrialists in Swiss banks.
Besides alleging that the bribe money was kept in the Swiss bank account Hershman, in a television interview, also said the findings did not go down well with Rajiv.
While a few reports claimed that Rajiv was "furious" when he had found a Swiss bank account "Mont Blanc", other reports claimed that Rajiv Gandhi got very upset when "our (Hershman) work was uncovered"
CBI to probe allegations
The CBI said it will conduct a probe into the claims. "The agency has learnt of the matter pertaining to the Bofors aired on certain TV channels containing interview of Michael Hershman," CBI information officer and spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said in a statement.
"Facts and circumstances as mentioned in the interview will be looked into as per due process by the CBI," Dayal was quoted as saying by the PTI.
The weapon deal was signed between the then Congress government and Swedish company Bofors in 1986. In the same year, in March, the deal for 410 155mm Howitzer field guns was completed.
About a year later, on 16 April 1987, a Swedish Radio alleged that the Bofors company bribed people from a number of countries including top Indian politicians and other eminent defence officials to seal the deal.
When the bribery came to light, the Indian government blacklisted Bofors in 1987, preventing the company from doing business in India. The scam was one of the major reasons for the defeat of the Congress in 1989 elections.
