AgustaWestland row gets murkier: After Tyagi, ex-IAF chief NAK Browne's role under scanner

Even as former Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi is facing heat over allegations in the AgustaWestland controversy, another former Air Force chief’s name has cropped up in relation to the case. CNN-News18 quoted top government sources as saying that the role of former Air Force chief NAK Browne is under investigation in the case. Browne was the Chief of Air Staff from 31 July 2011 to 31 December 2013. Browne was the Deputy Air Chief when the VVIP chopper deal was struck. Investigators are also said to be probing role of some other Air Force officials in the case, CNN-News18 reported_._ [caption id=“attachment_2762716” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of NAK Browne. Image courtesy: PIB[/caption] The CBI had questioned former IAF chief SP Tyagi  on Monday over alleged corruption in the Rs.3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal. Tyagi has been named in the FIR in the chopper deal along with 13 others including his brothers – Sanjeev, Rajeev and Sandeep – and European middlemen Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. The allegation against former IAF chief Tyagi is that he had reduced flying ceiling of the helicopter from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres (15,000 feet) so that AgustaWestland was included in the bids. The chopper deal resurfaced after an Italian court last month referred to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh among others in connection with the chopper deal but gave no details of any wrongdoing by the two leaders. The investigating agency had quizzed former IAF deputy chief JS Gujral on Saturday. AgustaWestland’s Rs 3,600 crore contract for supplying 12 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force was scrapped by the then UPA government over charges of paying kickbacks to Indian agents. In January 2013, India cancelled the deal and the CBI was assigned to investigate the matter. With inputs from IANS