May 23, 2009 4:17:04 am
Even as interrogation of the four accused in the Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) corruption scam continues,the CBI has traced a link between the chief accused,former Director General Sudipta Ghosh,and defence dealer M S Sahani,the co-accused.
In October 2006,Sahani,the then Defence Minister George Fernandes,former Navy Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar,Suresh Nanda and others had been named in an FIR by the CBI for allegedly receiving kickbacks in several defence deals struck during the NDA regime.
On Friday,a CBI officer said Ghosh was to receive a total of Rs 25 lakh as bribe from Sahani,of which Rs 18 lakh had been already paid and Rs 7 lakh were outstanding. He confirmed that raids had been conducted at Sahanis Delhi residence following Ghoshs arrest on May 18 in Kolkata,besides those conducted at the residences Ghoshs associate Ashish Bose.
As DG of the OFB,Ghosh was responsible for production,sale and procurement of military hardware and technology for countrys armed forces. The OFB has 40 ordnance factories under it. Ghosh,a 1970 batch officer of the Indian Ordnance Factories Services engineering section,took over as DG in 2007 before retiring on April 30,2009.
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