CBI gets flak for Q's release, will pursue him

New Delhi, Aug 16: The CBI, which has recieved a lot of flak after Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi yestrday walked free from Argentina, today said it will continue to pursue him in connection with the Bofors case.

''He is still an absconder. A red corner notice is already out for him. We will pursue him,'' said a top official of the agency.

The 69-year-old Quattrocchi was allowed to return home to Italy from Argentina after the CBI failed to challenge an Argentine court's rejection of its plea to extradite him to India.

Quattrocchi had been detained at an airport in Argentina in February, following the red corner notice issued by Interpol at the behest of the CBI.

Earlier in 2002, Quattrocchi had managed to give the CBI a slip after a Malaysian court dismissed India's plea for his extradition due to insufficient evidence.

Quattrocchi is accused of taking kickbacks while brokering a deal between the Indian government and the AB Bofors company for the purchase of Swedish-made Bofors howitzer guns in 1987.

UNI