Oppn guns for Cong on Bofors, seeks new probe

CNN-IBN | 25-Apr 11:55 AM

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday hit out at the Congress following the new revelations by Sten Lindstorm, the man who blew the lid off the Bofors case, saying that they had always raised the question of Ottavio Quattrochi.

Addressing a media conference, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, "The way Quattrochi was helped to move out of the country gave a clear indication of the government's intention. We have always raised the question on Quattrochi."

Another senior BJP leader, Murli Manohar Joshi, said that the government must look into the issue again, alleging that several people were yet to be named. He said that the names must come out.

Meanwhile, the Left also reacted to the development saying the revelation showed that Quattrochi was given a safe passage. It, however maintained that the report must be first verified.

CPI leader D Raja said, "The present revelation shows that Quattrochi was given a safe passage. The government and the CBI must respond to it."

"The report has come from other country and it has to be verified," he further said.

In an interview that appeared on website thehoot.org, former Swedish Police chief Sten Lindstrom owned up to being the informant of journalist Chitra Subramanian who had broken the story.

Lindstrom had operated under the pseudonym Swedish Deep Throat.

The case involved illegal payoffs and had rocked both India and Sweden in the late 1980s.

Breaking his silence on Wednesday, Lindstrom said there was no evidence to show that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had taken a bribe in the Bofors deal.

However, he said Gandhi didn't stop the cover-up to protect main accused Ottavio Quattrochi.

Lindstrom said, "Ardbo, (Bofors managing director), had written in his notes that the identity of N (Arun Nehru) becoming public was a minor concern but at no cost could the identity of Q (Quattrochi) be revealed because of his closeness to R (Rajiv Gandhi)."

He further said that the case against actor and then Congress MP Amitabh Bachchan and his family was planted in a Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter by Indian investigators.

Reacting t o it, Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan said that the truth had finally been revealed.

She said, "The truth has now been revealed. We knew about it all along, but how do you undo the damage inflicted."

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