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CBI to file chargesheet against Chadha, Quottrocchi

Win Chadha, former Bofors agent in India, and his son Harsh are among those being named as accused in the Central Bureau of Investigation's first chargesheet to be filed soon in the Rs 640 million payoffs case.

Sources said yesterday that the CBI also named controversial Italian businessman Ottavio Quottrocchi, his wife Maria and Chadha's late wife Kanta as beneficiaries of the kickbacks in the Rs 14.36 billion Howitzer gun deal signed with A B Bofors of Sweden in 1986.

The CBI had come out with the names after scrutinising the first set of secret Swiss bank documents obtained in January 1997 following a protracted legal battle. The second and final set is still awaited.

The CBI is finalising the chargesheet in the case following the government sanction to prosecute former defence secretary S K Bhatnagar.

All those named as beneficiaries of the payoffs and Bhatnagar would figure in the chargesheet, the sources said.

After filing the chargesheet, the CBI would approach the governments of Malaysia, where Quattrocchi is residing, and the United Arab Emirates, where Chadha is staying, seeking their extradition, the sources said.

The CBI was aware of the fact that Chadha had recently secured a Belize passport and would take necessary action accordingly, the sources added.

UNI

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