NRI denies hand in Israel-India arms deal

A London-based Indian businessman, accused of receiving millions of pounds in kickbacks from an arms deal between an Israeli company and Indian government, has denied being involved in any defence sale, a British newspaper said on Sunday.

Sudhir Choudhrie, a donor for the Liberal Democrats, was accused in the Indian media of acting as a key arms broker and benefitting from the deal.

However, his family has said he never profited from the arms industry, the Observer said.

Choudhrie was accused of receiving as illegal business charges, a share of the 1.5 billion deal of medium range surface-to-air missiles between an Israeli company and the Indian government in January this year.

Sources close to his family allege that Choudhrie is a victim of a campaign to discredit him.

"These allegations, as well as the ones from earlier, are completely and utterly unfounded. He has never been involved in arms deals of any sort," the paper quoted the sources as saying.