File photo used for representation

BHOPAL: The junior works manager of Gun Carriage Factory (GCF) Jabalpur office - Sarada Charan Khatua - was hacked to death, autopsy report revealed on Wednesday. He was said to be in possession of some important information related to the Bofors case , said sources.

"We would be registering a murder case. Injuries on his head were inflicted with sharp-edged weapons," said Jabalpur SP Amit Singh .

Khatua, who was missing since January 17, was found dead in a deserted area of the city on Tuesday evening.

"Traitors murdered my brother. He was cooperating with the CBI probe and was going to share some classified documents. My brother was kidnapped and killed by those involved in this scam. They should not be spared," Sarada's brother Rajan Khatua told TOI. He too works in GCF.

Ranjan said a GCF officer had called his wife asking for email ID and password on behalf of the CBI. "His number is also switched off," he said.

Meanwhile, a delegation of GCF employees association met state minister Lakhan Ghangoria and demanded action against police officials accountable for lethargic investigations into the missing person complaint.

Khatua had vanished a week after being questioned by CBI in connection with the alleged supply and use of Chinese parts in indigenized Bofors guns . His body was found in a decomposed state at a deserted region near the ordnance factory.

A local resident grew suspicious about Khatua’s abandoned scooty on Tuesday and called police, who then found the body. Khatua’s family members allege he was murdered as part of a conspiracy, but police initially believed he committed suicide.

Khatua was last seen at 8.54am on January 17 in a footage collected from traffic cams. His wife had filed a missing person complaint that night. In June 2017, CBI had lodged an FIR against a Delhi-based company and ‘unknown’ officers of GCF Jabalpur following a tip-off that China-made parts were masked as ‘made in Germany’ and supplied to GCF for Bofors. GCF officials claim the inquiry is a result of a dispute between foreign partners of the company that got the contract from GCF.

As per policy, Chinese products are not used in Indian defence products.

The CBI FIR alleges that the supplier connived with GCF officials to supply duplicate spare parts (bearings) used in the manufacture of 155mm Dhanush guns — indigenized version of Bofors artillery guns that turned the tide of the 1999 Kargil conflict.

Investigators suspect some GCF officials accepted Chinese manufactured ‘wire race roller bearings’ that were embossed ‘CRBmade in Germany’.

GCF officials argue the German company is to blame for supplying Chinese parts to India.

During investigation, it was found that the Delhi-based company had submitted ‘certificates in origin’, showing that the bearings were purchased from a German company. Those parts had ‘made in Germany’ labels, sources say. When bearings failed quality tests, the company gave clarifications and assured to replace defective parts free of cost.

CBI says the German company does not manufacture these parts. Investigators suspect the Delhi-based company got six bearings manufactured by Sino United Industries (Luyang) Ltd Henan, China. The agency has seized emails between the Indian and Chinese companies.

