india

Updated: Jan 31, 2019 16:59 IST

Rajiv Saxena, an accused in the multi-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal, was sent to 4-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate by a Delhi court on Thursday.

Saxena was brought to the Patiala House court of special judge Arvind Kumar in the morning after being extradited along with corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar from UAE on Wednesday night.

Geetha Luthra, Saxena’s lawyer, said, “Manner in which he has been brought here is illegal and because the manner is illegal, the remand request automatically becomes incorrect.”

Saxena allegedly operated a number of accounts in Switzerland banks, including Union Bancaire Privee (UBP) in Zurich, UBS Switzerland, and Credit Suiss AG, according to a government dossier, news agency ANI reported.

The remittances into these accounts came allegedly from Matrix Group Ltd, UHY Saxena and Associates, Tiramisu Holdings Inc and Tanay Holdings Ltd, the document claimed.

Talwar had “facilitated dispersal of profit-making routes of India’s state-carrier Air India to private airlines, using his connections with the then civil aviation minister”, government agencies have alleged.

This was “corroborated” by payments made by private airlines, which benefitted from “such illegalities”, ANI quoted sources as saying.

Earlier, Saxena and Talwar were questioned by the officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which took their custody after they were brought here early this morning following extradition from the UAE.

(With agencies inputs)