Latest Bofors boom is just an echo: ‘I raised the same points with Express 6 years ago’

While Prime Minister Vajpayee said that the CBI would look into the issues that had been raised (in a signed article that Lindstrom wrote for The Asian Age), the investigator himself clarified he had made the same points before. This was six years ago, to The Indian Express.

Then, too, he had spoken of how Sonia could take the story further by ‘‘revealing’’ what she knew of the deal. He had also spoken of the Gandhis’ links wth Ottavio Quattrocchi, the businessman whose AE Services allegedly received a $7.1 million payoff. And he mentioned that Martin Ardbo, the former Bofors chief executive, had told him he was being made a scapegoat to protect important people in India.

‘‘I raised the same points with the then reporter of The Indian Express,’’ he told this newspaper over telephone from Stockholm today.

The reporter was Chitra Subramaniam whose article appeared on January 25, 1998.

Since the issues raised in it have gained currency again, we are reproducing original report. Meanwhile, the CBI is loking into the matter again, though when asked why the agency did not act when Lindstrom called for questioning of Sonia in 1998 itself, the spokesperson refused to comment.

Then, he had said: Clearly, a lot of people are lying

What has CBI done since 1998

click on the image above to see January 25 1998 page