New Delhi:
Days after the government ordered an official probe into the Rs 4,000 crore VVIP chopper deal, a CBI team along with a top Defence Ministry official, will leave for Milan in an attempt to unearth the money trail. The three-member team will arrive in Italy on Tuesday.
The team will be led by a senior Defence Ministry official and will also comprise of a DIG of the CBI besides a law officer.
Official sources said the departure of the team was delayed by a day due to some last-minute formalities which required to be fulfilled before traveling abroad for the purpose of investigation.
They said the team will try to meet Italian prosecutors to ascertain the details of the case.
The team comprises a CBI DIG, a law officer of the agency, a Joint Secretary level officer of Defence Ministry and an official of the External Affairs Ministry, the sources said.
The decision by the CBI came as it virtually drew a blank from the Defence Ministry in getting some official inputs regarding alleged kickbacks of Rs 217 crore in the case, they said.
The CBI was handed over a letter from the Defence Ministry seeking a probe by it in the case which has triggered a storm in the country. Attached with the letter were some Indian and Italian press clippings, which the CBI said, could not form the basis for registering a case.
The CBI had sought help of Indian Mission in Rome which too has not been able to provide any authenticated court documents to the agency, the sources said.
This was followed by CBI seeking help of Interpol which also expressed inability to provide any help in the absence of any regular case not having been registered by the agency, they said.
The Defence Ministry had on Friday sent a team led by Joint Secretary and an Air Commodore of Indian Air Force, who gave a presentation to the CBI about the tendering procedures and various stages while finalising the helicopter deal with AgustaWestland.
However, when pressed by the CBI officials about the kickback allegations, the team could not provide any answers to the sleuths, the sources said.