Cbi Team Likely To Leave For Geneva On October 10

CBI sources said here that the team is likely to be headed by deputy inspector general (DIG) Narinder Pal Singh and legal advisor R S Sharma, who had earlier gone to Geneva after the two Karsan Ltd executives, chairman & managing director Tuncay Alankus and executive director Cihan Karanci were arrested by the Interpol on September 16.

The two-member team had returned with the documents and details of the case and arrest of the two executives who are still in Interpol's custody.

'All the documents pertaining to the extradition proceedings with the Switzerland government had been prepared and they would be handed over to the concerned authorities in Geneva by the CBI team,'' sources added.

Although, India and Switzerland do not have an extradition treaty, the CBI had sought extradition of the two main accused under the Commonwealth system. The extradition proceedings have to be initiated within 30 days of the arrest of the accused.

The CBI had achieved a breakthrough in the case when it reportedly managed to get the bank documents and details of transactions pertaining to the Swiss Bank accounts of the duo of the Karsan Ltd.

The CBI on October 4 received a message from Indian ambassador in Berne that the Swiss federal department of justice and police had handed over the set of bank documents and details running into nearly 225 pages. The accounts have already been frozen on request from CBI and pertain to Tuncay Alankus and Cihan Karanci. The accounts are believed to be in the Indo-Suez bank and Pictet bank.

Sources said that the details of the transactions are expected to unveil the secrecy over the alleged kickbacks in the $37 million urea deal which the National Fertilizer Ltd (NFL) had contracted with Karsan Ltd last year for supply of two lakh tonnes of urea.

Despite the payment of full advance, the company defaulted in the supply of the fertiliser. It was alleged that the money, deposited in the Swiss banks, found its way out from the accounts within a few days but it was not known who the beneficiaries were.

Karsan Ltd had sent a consignment of urea to the Bhavnagar port on September 12, but it was rejected by the NFL, saying it did not fulfill contractual obligations and quality specifications.

The 9000-tonne consignment was not allowed to be unloaded at the Indian port and was sent back by the authorities.

However, sources said the extradition process might take some time as a large number of formalities had to be gone through and the Swiss authorities will also examine the evidence and the nature of charges against the accused before proceeding with handing over the accused to the Indian authorities.

Cbi sources said with the extradition of the two top executives of Karsan Ltd to India, the CBI will be able to trace the main beneficiaries of the urea scam and also bring out the names of the people allegedly involved in hatching of the entire conspiracy to dupe the country of Rs 133 crore.