Modi government shunts Rafale whistle-blower: Congress
New Delhi, Sep 27: The Congress on Thursday alleged that the Narendra Modi government has shunted a senior official, who indicated the loss in the Rafale jet deal, and rewarded his boss who overruled him, saying there were "perks of pleasing" that covered "corruption tracks."
Party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has paid 300 per cent more for the defence deal that was negotiated to purchase 36 fighter jets from France as compared to an earlier price offered by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for 126 jets.
"The Modi government shunted the whistle-blower Joint Secretary (Air) who questioned the loss to government treasury by paying 300 per cent extra for 36 Rafale.
"Director General Smita Nagaraj, who overruled the joint secretary, was made a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Perks of pleasing Modi government cover corruption tracks," Surjewala said attaching an Indian Express report along with his tweet.
The newspaper report stated that nearly a month before the deal was signed in September 2016 by then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart in New Delhi, then Joint Secretary and Acquisition Manager (Air) in the Ministry of Defence (MoD), who had been part of the Contract Negotiations Committee (CNC), raised questions about the benchmark price and put his objections on record.
The objections raised delayed the Cabinet note approving the deal and its signing, which only happened after his objections were "overruled" by another senior MoD official, Director General (Acquisition).
The government-to-government deal for 36 Rafale aircrafts was announced by Modi during his visit to Paris in April 2015. The proposal for the earlier 126 Rafale jets during the UPA's regime was scrapped.
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Man kills woman lecturer, sets car ablaze; dies by suicide in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): A 46-year-old man allegedly killed a woman lecturer by setting fire to the car with her inside, before dying by suicide; his severed body was found by railway police the next day, police said on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Ramanjinappa, a resident of Doddaballapura, was a contract worker in the tahsildar’s office, they said.
Police said the man, who was married and had apparently separated from his wife, was in an illicit relationship with a woman identified as Saroja, whose charred body was found inside a gutted car in an isolated area near the Bashetty Industrial Area in Doddaballapura taluk on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Saroja was also married and had a son, police said.
According to police, on Saturday, the man allegedly borrowed a car from an acquaintance, claiming he had a medical emergency and needed to visit a hospital.
Citing preliminary investigations, a senior police officer said the man picked up the lecturer from a bus stop in Devanahalli. The two spent a couple of hours driving around Nandi Hills and nearby areas.
Later, they reached a secluded spot in Doddaballapura, where it is suspected that an argument ensued inside the car, following which he allegedly hit her on the head with a hammer, the officer said.
He then set the car on fire, reportedly using petrol, and is believed to have died by suicide thereafter, police said.
Locals who saw the burning car alerted the police and fire department, who rushed to the spot, extinguished the fire, and found the woman’s body completely charred inside the vehicle, the officer added.
His severed body was found near railway tracks in Bidadi by the railway police on Sunday, he said.
The motive and whether the crime was premeditated or impulsive are under investigation, he said.
Saroja’s husband filed a complaint accusing Ramanjinappa of killing her, police said, adding that a detailed investigation is underway to establish the exact sequence of events.
