CBI team to leave for Argentina on 28th

Amid trenchant criticism from the opposition parties over Bofors case accused Ottavio Quattrocchi's detention, the government today said CBI officials would leave for Argentina on February 28 to seek his extradition.

Quattrocchi's country Italy does not permit its citizens to be tried in any other country. India and Argentina do not have an extradition treaty and it will take some doing to get him extradited, sources say. India has time till March 7 to ensure that Quattrocchi is kept in jail, pending extradition.

The 69-year-old Italian was detained on February 6 at Argentina's Iguazu international airport on the basis of a red corner notice issued by Interpol at the behest of the CBI. The detention was announced by the CBI on February 23, prompting criticism for the delay.

Refuting the criticism, a CBI official said after being informed by the Argentinian authorities, they verified the identity of Quattrocchi and translated voluminous documents provided by Argentina in Spanish.

"We had more than 300 documents in Spanish which had to be translated into English. We roped in translators from the Jawaharlal Nehru University immediately and prepared our extradition request based on the translated excerpts of these documents," a senior CBI official said.

The CBI is planning to hire a local firm in Argentina to handle the extradition, as was done in the case of don Abu Salem.

The CBI's case was likely to be argued by Argentina's presecutor general, sources said. The agency has asked the external affairs ministry if it would like to depute a liaison officer with its team.

Meanwhile, Quattrocchi's son Massimo has left India after a few days' stay. Sources said he had come to attend a social function

Quattrocchi, who was close to the Gandhi family, was alleged to have received kickbacks from former Swedish arms manufacturer Bofors for the contract to sell 155mm howitzers to the Indian Army. He left India in 1993 at the height of the probe into the Bofors scandal.

Quattrocchi's detention has come as a shot in the arm for the CBI, which received flak in January last year after a British bank de-froze his bank account. The bank's action came after the CBI failed to provide any evidence to the British Crown Prosecution Service

Meanwhile, the Opposition is determined to raise the issue as soon as Parliament meets tomorrow. An indication to this effect was given by Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, VK Malhotra, who said the party had given a notice for suspension of the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha.