Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take “immediate action” against “corrupt” officials, citing a media report alleging that Ukraine is probing kickbacks worth crores paid to India’s defence ministry officials for an aircraft spares deal.
Tagging the report by a newspaper, Gandhi tweeted, “Ministry Of Defence, India (MODI) officials, accused of making millions of $’s in kickbacks via Dubai by Ukrainian Govt. in AN32 deal.”
“Modi ji, as our self proclaimed chokidar, I urge you to take immediate action against your corrupt MODI officials,” he said on Twitter, using the hashtag ‘BJPDefenceScam’.
Ukraine is investigating alleged kickbacks to the tune of $2.6 million ( ₹17.55 crore) in India’s purchase of spares for military transport aircraft An-32 in which its Anti-Corruption Bureau suspects the involvement of Indian defence ministry officials, the report alleged.
Meanwhile, home minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said he was not aware of any letter to his ministry from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NAB) regarding alleged kickbacks in the procurement of spare parts for transport aircraft An-32 by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
He was replying to a question on the media report which claimed that Ukraine’s NAB had written to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) claiming that kickbacks to the tune of ₹17.55 crore was paid to some Indian defence officials for the spares deal.
{{/usCountry}}He was replying to a question on the media report which claimed that Ukraine’s NAB had written to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) claiming that kickbacks to the tune of ₹17.55 crore was paid to some Indian defence officials for the spares deal.
{{/usCountry}}“Aisa koi mamla mere saamne abhi tak nahi aya hai (no such matter has come to me so far),” Singh told reporters here.
The media report said the Ukrainian agency had sought legal assistance from the MHA for its probe into the alleged kickbacks.