The alleged role of Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper scam gained fresh momentum after some messages between him and approver Rajiv Saxena came to the fore.
The text exchanged between Ratul Puri (nephew of Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath) and Rajiv Saxena add fuel to the AgustaWestland chopper scam, as per ET reports.
In one of the text exchanges, they discussed Sushen Mohan Gupta, a co-accused in the case, and adverse claims made by his lawyer against Saxena’s wife in the court after Saxena offered to turn an approver.
Gupta’s lawyer, the messages say, had questioned the veracity of Saxena’s claims and alleged that his (Saxena) wife had in the past lodged a “false” complaint against a Bollywood celebrity.
Puri gave the investigators the slip on the pretext of using urinal after being confronted with the said messages. He then switched off his phone and approached his lawyers to file an anticipatory bail.
The Enforcement Directorate is likely to file its response to Puri’s application and oppose his anticipatory bail.
The investigators suspect that Saxena stands “influenced” and he deliberately chose not to reveal information in his possession pertaining to Puri’s alleged involvement in the AgustaWestland chopper scam.
In April, income tax investigators had questioned some aides of Kamal Nath, including Puri, and seized a mobile phone allegedly belonging to Puri, sources said.
The ED has moved the court, seeking to overrule Saxena’s bail on the grounds that he has deliberately not made full disclosure about the involvement of the accused and the money laundering channels they adopted to allegedly bribe public officials and politicians in securing the chopper deal for AgustaWestland.
ET had reported on March 13 that Saxena, in his judicial confession, explained the “modus operandi” adopted in routing the alleged kickbacks. He was described as the “key money launderer” by the ED.
A court in February allowed Saxena, who was extradited from Dubai earlier this year, to turn an approver after the ED granted its consent on condition that he would make full disclosure.
By: Abhinav Ranjan, Editorial Desk, DKODING Media
