Invite Swedish investigator to unravel Bofors truth: George to PM

New Delhi, Dec 19 (UNI) NDA Convenor and former Defence Minister George Fernandes today condemned the Congress' attempts to brow beat former Swedish investigator in the Bofors case Sten Lindstorm by serving him a legal notice and reiterated that the Government invite the investigator to reveal the truth behind the deal.

Taking note of Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora's notice to Mr Lindstorm, accusing him of making 'unwarranted innuendos and insinuations', Mr Fernandes in a statement said he failed to understand how without inviting him the (Swedish investigator) to make his statement, his comments had become 'speculative, baseless and unsustainable'. This is yet another attempt of the Congress to prevent the truth from surfacing, he claimed.

Mr Fernandes said he had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in May 2007 asking him to invite Mr Lindstorm to tell India the truth but Dr Singh seemed completely 'disinterested'.

'' The UPA Government does not want to find out the evidence, Mr Lindstorm claimed he had against UPA Chairperson'', the NDA leader charged.

Quoting Mr Lindstorm's letter addressed to him by the Swedish investigator, Mr Fernandes said he believed that Italian middleman Ottavio Quattrocchi, the person who negotiated the political payoff, must be interrogated and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi must be questioned.

The investigator had also claimed that he was probably the only person who met every Swedish official concerned with the Bofors case, right from OTS head Martin Ardbo to former Swedish Foreign Minister Sten Anbderson to its Bofors board members, and had seen all documents concerned.

UNI