Published On : Mon, May 2nd, 2016

Ex Air Chief SP Tyagi Questioned By CBI In AgustaWestland Chopper Scam

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ex-air-chief-sp-tyagiNew Delhi: Former Air Force Chief SP Tyagi is being questioned on the AgustaWestland chopper scam by the CBI, which plans to confront him with new evidence and documents.

Retired Air Marshal Tyagi is accused of helping AgustaWestland win the contract to supply a dozen choppers to India by tailoring specifications. The company’s middlemen were in touch with his cousins, referred to as the Tyagi brothers in Italian court documents.

The Tyagi cousins have also been summoned for questioning.

CBI sources allege that specifications for the choppers to be supplied to India for VVIP use were changed at a meeting on March 7, 2005, at the air force headquarters, when Air Marshal Tyagi was chief.

The CBI also alleges that the Tyagi brothers, Sanjeev, Rajeev and Sandeep were long-time associates Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, middlemen hired by Agusta and its Italy-based parent company Finmeccanica.

Sources say investigations have revealed that it was in 2004 that the Tyagis entered into a consultancy deal with Haschke and Gerosa’s company registered in Tunisia. At that time, the cousins were certain that SP Tyagi would be the next air force chief.

The CBI says the Tyagi brothers received 1.26 lakh euros after March 2004 and 2 lakh euros after Feb 2005. The money was for “consultation” on paper but corresponded with the changes in specs made by the air force chief, the agency says.