NEW DELHI: A court on Wednesday extended the Enforcement Directorate’s custody of Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged middleman in the `3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, by three more days.Gupta was presented before Special Judge Arvind Kumar on the expiry of his four-day ED custody. He was arrested on March 26. The ED informed the court that Gupta would be confronted with Gautam Khaitan, another accused in the case, in Tihar.
In his disclosure statement, Rajiv Saxena, another accused, submitted the ED had revealed that Interstellar Technologies, a company that allegedly received kickbacks, was controlled by Khaitan and Gupta. It said Saxena had also presented two diaries, some loose sheets and a pen drive, all related to Gupta.Opposing the ED plea, Gupta’s counsel said he was co-operating with the agencies.
Security agencies of the united Arab Emirates (UAE)had picked up Saxena from his Dubai residence on January 30 and extradited him to India. He was granted bail on medical grounds last week. The ED did not oppose his bail application.
According to the ED, Saxena, in connivance with Khaitan, developed the global corporate structure that laundered money for payment to politicians, bureaucrats and IAF officials to influence the contract for supplying 12 VVIP choppers in favour of AgustaWestland, the Rome-based helicopter design and manufacturing company.(With agency inputs)
Chopper imbroglio
l In his disclosure statement, Rajiv Saxena, another accused, submitted the ED had revealed that Interstellar Technologies, a company that allegedly received kickbacks, was controlled by Gautam Khaitan and Sushen Gupta
l According to the ED, Saxena and Khaitan, developed the global corporate structure that laundered money for payments