Christian Michel named Sonia Gandhi, son of Italian lady, says ED

Christian Michel and Sonia Gandhi

Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case, has named Congress's Sonia Gandhi while in their custody, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed a court in Delhi on Saturday. The ED lawyer also told the court that Michel spoke about "the son of the Italian lady" and how he is going to become "the next prime minister of the country", the reference being to Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Michel, arrested by the ED over money laundering charges in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam after being extradited from the UAE earlier this month, was produced in Delhi's Patiala House Court after seven days in the probe agency's custody.

"We need to decipher who is this 'big man' referred to as 'R' is in the communication between Michel and other people. We need to confront Michel with other people to decipher this," the ED told the court.

The probe agency said the British national had handed over a piece of paper while shaking hands with his lawyer. When that paper was checked, it had questions related to Sonia Gandhi, the agency added, and wanted the lawyer's access to Michel withdrawn. To which the court replied that the lawyer can meet Michel for 15 minutes in the morning and the evening instead of the usual hour-long meet. The court extended Michel's custody by a week.

Rs 3,600 cr
Amount for which the helicopter deal was signed

Congress calls it political vendetta
Meanwhile, calling it a political vendetta, Congress's RPN Singh on Saturday said that there is pressure on Michel to name a particular family. "Why is the chowkidaar trying to pressurise government agencies to name a family? The Bharatiya Janata Party script writers are working overtime," he said.

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