Zeenews Bureau
Rome: A CBI team has arrived in Italy on Tuesday which left last night from Delhi.
The team is here to probe the allegations of kickbacks in the USD 750 mn/Rs 3,600 crore deal for the 12 AgustaWestland 101 choppers, officials said.
Official sources said the team, comprise of a senior investigating officer of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and a law officer. They will meet Italian prosecutors to ascertain the details of the case.
A Defence Ministry official told reporters earlier that a lawyer is likely to be engaged in Italy to help the team understand the Italian law, represent India's case with the local courts, and expedite the process of getting documents.
The Defence Ministry has also send a senior joint secretary to Italy "to gather as much evidence as possible" relating to the allegations of corruption in the acquisition of the helicopters for the VVIP use by the Indian Air Force.
The official, AK Bal, is also in Rome.
Sources earlier said that the Defence Ministry official and the CBI team were likely to travel together to Italy.
They said the CBI team will probe if firms had been floated to route kickbacks in the helicopter deal with AgustaWestland, a Britain-based subsidiary of Italian firm Finmeccanica.
They said the investigating agency has so far not registered a case as it wants to get more information about the kickbacks and establish authenticity of documents.
With Agency Inputs
First Published: Tuesday, February 19, 2013, 14:56