2009 Swiss aircraft buy: CBI books arms dealer Bhandari, IAF officials

The CBI on Saturday said it had a registered a case against arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and unknown officials of the Indian Air Force and the Defence Ministry in 2009 trainer aircraft deal case.

A senior CBI official told IANS: "A case was registered against Bhandari and Bimal Darren, both directors of Offset India Solutions Pvt Ltd, as well as officials of Swiss-based plane-maker Pilatus Aircraft Ltd over alleged irregularities in procurement of 75 basic trainer aircraft in 2009 on Wednesday."

He said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that kickbacks up to Rs 339 crore were paid in the deal.

The CBI has earlier registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) on November 11, 2016 to verify the allegations of bribery.

The CBI official said the agency was probing the kind of services that Offset India Solution Pvt Ltd provided to the Swiss aircraft firm.

Bhandari is already being investigated for allegedly buying a benami house for Congress President Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law Robert Vadra in London.