Swiss court okays extradition of urea scam accused

The Swiss federal court has upheld its government order allowing the extradition of two Turkish firm officials to India. The officials, facing trial in the Rs 1.33 billion urea import scam, have been in Swiss police custody for about a year.

Central Bureau of Investigation sources said that Karsan Limited chairman-cum-managing director Tuncay Alankus and vice-president Cihan Karanci will brought to New Delhi later this week.

The two officials had challenged in the federal court the Swiss government order extraditing them to India on a CBI request.

The Swiss government had also frozen the accounts in which the accused had deposited $ 38 million of the scam money. The accounts had, however, only $ 8 million when they were frozen. The Swiss government might transfer this amount to India.

Investigations had revealed that the $ 4 million allegedly paid as kickbacks in the deal was deposited in Dubai and part of it was later transferred through hawala and banking channels to Hyderabad.

Among the accused in the urea scam are former chemicals and fertilisers minister Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav's son Prakash Yadav, Karsan agent in India Sambasiva Rao, National Fertilisers Limited managing director C K Ramakrishnan, its suspended executive director D S Kanwar and US-based Alabama International's S Nuthi.

The CBI has filed three first information reports in the case, but is yet to issue the chargesheet.

UNI