BJP not surprised over Quattrocchi extradition Issue

New Delhi, June 9 (UNI) Charging the UPA government with being ''hand in glove'' in subverting the arrest of Italian fugitive Ottavio Quattrocchi, the BJP today said it was not surprised over Argentina rejecting India's request for extradition of the prime accused in the Bofors kickbacks scam.

Demanding that CBI immediately file an appeal in higher court in Argentina against the turning down India's request for extradition, the party alleged that the CBI was working at the behest of the Congress-led coalition at the Centre and had earlier helped the fugitive by getting his money released from his London bank accounts.

''The same agency did nothing to arrest Quattrocchi when he had been in Malaysia for 17 days and allowed him to escape from there,'' BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Rapping the UPA government in even day to day functioning of police and other agencies, he wondered how an FIR was lodged by the Prime Minister's office (PMO) against one M D Rao, allegedly working as an advisor in PMO, following which a raid was conducted at his house in Green Park in South Delhi and cash and documents worth crores of rupees were seized by the police. But till date, the police had not taken any action against him.

Mr Prasad said the BJP had the information that Rao was a close associate of Quattrocchi's son. ''The people of this country would like to know where police had filed any charge-sheet against Rao or whether he had been arrested,'' he said.

Police always take a lot of publicity even for a small arrest or a small seizure but it had put this case in 'cold storage', Mr Prasad claimed.

Meanwhile, the BJP also accused the UPA Government of weakening India's case in regard to its nuclear deal with the US at the G-8 meeting, and demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to go back from his statement made in both House of Parliament over the civil nuclear deal.

Similarly, Dr Singh also must take the country into confidence on his talks with Chinese counterpart over Arunachal Pradesh, Mr Prasad added.

UNI