india

Updated: Jul 08, 2019 23:21 IST

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has named Ratul Puri, the nephew of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, in the supplementary charge sheet filed against alleged defence agent Sushen Mohan Gupta in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam.

The charge sheet was filed in the court in Delhi on May 22.

It told a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Delhi that the investigation is pending in the case “primarily due to the fact that certain documents from various foreign jurisdictions are awaited.”

The ED said the probe against Puri and his companies are still in “progress”.

Gupta was arrested on March 26 for his alleged role in the payment of kickbacks from British firm AgustaWestland. As per the charge sheet filed on May 22, Gupta told investigators that Puri was his “friend”.

When Gupta was shown the account entry of October 2009 against which remittance of 14000 euros were made to a certain RPuriTechnoston, he told the agency that ‘RPuri’ could “refer to his friend Ratul Puri”, according to the charge sheet.

Ratul Puri’s company, Hindustan Power Project Private Ltd, in a statement, denied any connection with AgustaWestland or any other defence deal.

A company spokesperson said, “Neither company nor its promoters have absolutely any connection with AgustaWestland or with any defence deal at all. It would be unfair and incorrect to comment on an unverified statement on a matter which is under judicial purview. Ratul Puri is at the helm of an organization which has abided with all laws and regulations in the countries of its operation. As a policy, we do not comment on speculations.”