Hours after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) disclosed that Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case, took the name of "Mrs Gandhi" during interrogation, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday alleged that the Congress regime was a government of corruption that compromised with national security. "Revelations by ED show that there is ‘son of Italian lady’, 'big man’ and ‘R’ involved. It points towards a family. Congress government was a government of corruption that compromised with national security," ANI quoted Javedkar as saying. However, Congress leader Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh termed the interrogation as "pressure on Michel to name a particular family". "BJP scriptwriters are working overtime. There is pressure on Michel to name a particular family. Why is the chowkidar trying to pressure the government agencies to name a family?" Singh said. Congress leader Anand Sharma called ED's claim on Michel's statement as "absurd". "I have never heard anything more absurd than what I have heard today and that too coming from ED as claimed before a court. The Modi government is guilty of malicious and vicious propaganda," Sharma said. "There’s brazen and shameless abuse of agencies of the state; CBI has been wrecked, ED has no credibility left. These are actions of a govt in its dying days. Agencies should act according to law. There's no prosecution taking place. There's no evidence being produced," he added. During hearing at Delhi's Patiala House court, the ED said Michel had taken the name of "Mrs Gandhi" during interrogation in custody and even spoke about "the son of the Italian lady" and how he is going to become "the next prime minister of the country". “Michel took Mrs Gandhi’s name and we wanted to ask a follow-up question. His lawyers had come and suddenly he handed a chit to them. He was caught red-handed by the doctors…He was actually seeking some direction on what to say and also to inform someone outside on the line of questioning,” ED’s Special Public Prosecutor DP Singh submitted. The agency sought an extension of eight more days, but the special court granted seven days custody. The ED also asserted that a “big man” referred to as “R” in communication between Michel and other people needed to be deciphered. “We need to confront Michel with other people to decipher who “the big man” or “R” is,” he told the court.
