VVIP chopper deal: CBI arrests former Air Force chief SP Tyagi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 9 -

Former Air Force chief SP Tyagi, his cousin Sanjiv ‘Julie’ Tyagi and a Delhi-based lawyer Gautam Khaitan were on Friday arrested by the CBI in the Agustawestland chopper deal case.

Sources said they will be produced in court on Saturday.

This is the first time a former service chief has been arrested.  

The Rs 3600-crore deal to supply 12 VVIP helicopters from Agustawestland came under the scanner after Italian authorities claimed that the company paid bribes.

Tyagi has been accused of influencing the deal in favour of Agustawestland during his tenure as the IAF chief. He has repeatedly denied the allegations.

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In March 2013, the CBI had registered a case in the deal. Based on the CBI complaint, ED officials had booked Air Marshal Tyagi and some members of his family. And in July 2014, the Enforcement Directorate registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Tyagi and 20 others in the Rs 3,600-crore deal.