France concealing facts on Rafale deal: Congress
New Delhi, Sep 22 : After the French government and Dassault Aviation contradicted former President Francois Hollande's claim in choosing Indian industrial partners in the multi-million dollar Rafale jet deal, the Congress on Saturday said the French statement "conceals more than it reveals".
"The French statement conceals more than it reveals. The French government knows verbal interactions between former President Francois Hollande and Indian interlocutors are minuted and would emerge.
"Speculation of French Parliamentary hearing into Rafale and access to administration documents under France's Freedom of Information Law 1978 rife," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari tweeted.
"What French government/corporate entity has just ended up doing is making Rafale procurement a veritable domestic issue in French politics also.
"By saying Hollande is being economical with truth they have set the stage for facts/documents to become a torrent."
Countering the attack, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Minister Ananth Kumar tweeted: "Nailing the lie on its head -- misinformation about Rafale deal, Dassault being called out by the French government."
The statement by the French government issued here late Friday came after Hollande's reported claim that the Indian government suggested a particular private firm for Rafale offset contract.
In response to the claim, the statement said: "The French government is in no manner involved in the choice of Indian industrial partners who have been, are being or will be selected by French companies."
Dassault Aviation, the makers of the Rafale jets, in a statement also on Friday night, said: "This offsets contract is delivered in compliance with the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016 regulations. In this framework, and in accordance with the policy of 'Make in India', Dassault Aviation has decided to make a partnership with India's Reliance Group. This is Dassault Aviation's choice."
The deal to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from France was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 and signed in 2016.
The UPA government was earlier negotiating a deal to procure 126 Rafale jets, with 18 to come in flyaway condition and 108 to be manufactured by HAL under licence.
The Modi government has repeatedly said it was Dassault that chose its India partner for offsets and that the government had no say in the deal.
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Delhi: Man arrested in Rs 1.2-lakh UPI fraud case
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has arrested a 32-year-old man in connection with a mobile phone theft case linked to fraudulent UPI transactions worth over Rs 1.2 lakh, an official said on Tuesday.
The case pertains to an e-FIR registered at IGI Airport Metro police station after a mobile phone was stolen and subsequently used to carry out multiple unauthorised UPI transactions amounting to Rs 1,20,390, he said.
Police said the investigation relied on a multi-layered approach combining advanced cyber forensic tools with ground intelligence. An end-to-end analysis of 11 suspicious UPI transactions was carried out, along with profiling and physical verification of beneficiaries.
The probe revealed that the defrauded money was rapidly routed through multiple local merchant accounts, indicating a structured and well-planned fraud network, a senior police officer said.
During technical surveillance, one of the key beneficiaries, identified as Neetu from Haryana's Safidon, was traced and examined. Her questioning led police to the prime accused, Kushagra Ahuja.
The accused had no fixed residence and frequently changed locations to evade arrest, making the investigation challenging. Multiple raids were conducted across Delhi and the National Capital Region based on technical inputs and surveillance.
On May 1, specific intelligence inputs indicated his presence near Kashmere Gate in north Delhi. Acting swiftly, police teams launched a focused operation and apprehended Ahuja after an intensive search near the ISBT area.
