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Delhi’s Patiala House Court Saturday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged defence agent and middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case, by four days more. Mohan Gupta was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday.
As per ED’s information, Gupta’s arrest was possible when another accused Rajeev Saxena made the disclosure. Saxena, who has turned an approver in the case, told ED that Gupta was a close associate of Gautam Khaitan and had helped him launder the kickbacks by floating shell companies.
ED, which booked Gupta booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), had earlier sought a 14-day custodial interrogation from the court.
However, Gupta’s counsel opposed the remand application and said that his client has joined the investigation as and when sought by the agency, so custodial interrogation is not required.
Read | VVIP chopper case: ‘Middleman’ held, sent to 4-day ED custody
ED arrested Rajeev Saxena earlier this year in January. He is accused of floating several shell companies to route kickbacks to “various political persons, bureaucrats and Air Force officials” to influence the deal in favour of the British company.
The VVIP chopper case pertains to allegations of money laundering in a defence deal signed by the then UPA government led by Congress, with a UK-based helicopter manufacturing company names AgustaWestland.
The Rs 3,600 crore deal was signed for the purchase of 12 AW101 helicopters for the Indian Air Force. However, the deal was later scrapped in 2014.
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