Centre hastened release of Anderson: CIA document

The Rajiv Gandhi government had hastened the release of the then Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson from house arrest, according to United States' Central Intelligence Agency.

The Rajiv Gandhi government had hastened the release of the then Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson from house arrest, according to United States' Central Intelligence Agency.

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"The central government's quick release of the Union Carbide Chairman from house arrest yesterday, however, suggests that New Delhi believes state officials were overly eager to score political points against the company..." a CIA document declassified in January, 2002 says.

According to the East Asia Brief for December, 1984, issued on December 8 that year, "with Indian national elections just over two weeks away, both state and central government politicians are trying to deflect blame from themselves to the subsidiary and to wring compensation from its parent company."

It said public outcry almost certainly will force the new government to "move cautiously" in developing future foreign investment and industrial policies "and relations with multinationals -- especially US -- firms."

According to the report, the "incident" is not likely to have a "major effect" on the Lok Sabha election.