New Delhi, Oct 21: CBI today held discussions with the British crown prosecutor general in connection with the freezing of two bank accounts of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, a few days ahead of court hearing scheduled for early next month. The CBI briefing to the prosecutor general focussed on Quattrocchi's role in the Bofors payoff case and his continuous attempt to evade appearance in the court, highly-placed CBI sources said here.

The discussions with the British prosecutor general were held via tele-conferencing.

The CBI contended that Quattrocchi, one of the main accused in the Rs 133 crore Bofors scam, "in a deceitful manner...Had been transferring the funds from one account to another to evade the detection by the law".

Britain, while acting swiftly on India's plea, had frozen two bank accounts having deposits of three million pounds (Rs 21 crore) of the Italian businessman.

In its discussions with the British authorities, the CBI requested for a thorough probe into the source of the funds saying the agency had strong suspicion that the funds were transferred from Bahamas, a tax haven country.

The sources said that if need be, the agency would send one of its representatives to London before the case comes up for hearing on November 3.

Bureau Report