AgustaWestland Scam: Former Air Force Chief Tyagi Points Finger At Manmohan Singh’s Office

In an embarrassment to Congress, ex-Indian Air Force chief S P Tyagi has blamed former prime minister Manmohan Singh's office for pushing the AgustaWestland deal in favour of the UK-based helicopter maker, said a report.

He was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday over alleged irregularities in the Rs 3,600 crore deal to acquire a dozen VVIP choppers.

CBI's spokesperson Devpreet Singh said that the bureau analysed at least 1.5 lakh pages of documents, before the order was issued to arrest the former chief of the India Air Force.

Tyagi was sent to CBI custody for four days after he was produced in a Delhi court on Saturday. Investigators have alleged that Mr Tyagi, along with his cousin Sanjeev alias Julie Tyagi and Delhi-based lawyer Gautam Khaitan, had received kickbacks.

Mr Tyagi, 71, was questioned for over four hours by the CBI on Friday. Tyagi’s is the first high profile arrest in the controversial choppers purchase case, and he bears the ignominy of being the first armed forces chief to be put behind bars in a corruption case.

With inputs from IANS.