The Enforcement Directorate, ED, has arrested businessman Gautam Khaitan in money laundering probe in VVIP choppers deal case. Khaitan is the first arrest carried out by the ED in the Rs 3,600-crore Agusta Westland chopper deal. He was an ex-board member of an accused company. The agency, which is trying to track the alleged kickbacks of Rs 360 crore from the deal, arrested Khaitan, after searches were conducted at two of his premises in the national capital yesterday. The agency, after searches, had seized jewellery worth Rs 1 crore and impounded some important financial documents from his premises.
Khiatan, however, has refuted all the allegations made against him. He had earlier been quizzed by the CBI in this case. The ED had registered a case in this deal under PMLA, taking cognisance of a more-than-a-year-old CBI FIR.India cancelled the Rs 3,600 crore deal in January this year on grounds of breach of pre-contract integrity pact and the agreement by Agusta Westland International Limited. The deal was inked in 2010 for supply of 12 VVIP helicopters to the Indian Air Force.
