'Centre forcing AgustaWestland middleman to frame Sonia'

New Delhi: Christian Michel, the British middleman in the scrapped AgustaWestland chopper deal, is being forced to frame UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in return for exoneration from criminal proceedings, the Congress alleged on Thursday, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using probe agencies to carry out a smear campaign against opposition leaders.

Christian Michel, wanted in India for allegedly organising bribes in exchange for a contract for VVIP helicopters, was reportedly detained in Dubai two days ago.

Citing a statement by the middleman's lawyer, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said this clearly brought out that the centre was trying to force Christian Michel to implicate the former Congress president in this case.

"Never before in the history of India has a Prime Minister been found complicit in gaining 'false evidence' against opposition leaders to seek revenge," Surjewala said.

The case involves a 2007 contract signed by the government for the purchase of 12 luxury helicopters for use by top leaders, including the President, Prime Minister and former prime ministers.

In 2013, the government scrapped the contract amid allegations that the supplier AgustaWestland, whose parent company Finmeccanica ran into allegations of bribe-giving in Italy, had paid kickbacks in India.

Former Air Chief SP Tyagi, 72, was arrested in 2016 over allegations that he accepted bribes to tailor specifications at the instance of his cousins. He became the first ever military chief - former or current - to be arrested.

The Congress says that once talk of kickbacks erupted in Italy, it cancelled the helicopter deal, blacklisted the company and asked the CBI to investigate the scam. It also confiscated the company's assets in India and abroad.