ZTE denies CBI charges on procuring visa through forged letter

New Delhi, Aug 10: Chinese

firm ZTE on Aug 9 dismissed allegation that its officials were involved in forging of a Union minister's letter to get visas for its employees.

The CBI has on Aug 8 registered a case of alleged forging of the letter head of the then Minister of state for Home Ajay Maken to create a draft letter addressed to Prime Minister. ZTE has been accused of being part of criminal conspiracy.

"We strongly deny any such allegations. ZTE is professional and ethical company running its operation worldwide and has always complied with the laws of the land of the respective country," a ZTE spokesperson said in a statement.

Based on the complaint of Maken, now Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, the agency has booked arms dealer Abhishek Verma and unnamed officials of Ganton and its Indian subsidiary Ganton India alongwith ZTE.

CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra has said, "It was alleged in the complaint that the accused had forged the Minister's letter-head and used the same to create a letter with the objective of obtaining visas for the employees of a foreign company."

The CBI has found that Maken's purported letter was part of alleged dealings between Verma's front company Ganton and ZTE Telecom working closely with the state-run companies MTNL and BSNL.

The letter had requested the Prime Minister "to take a reasoned view" on the visa issue as there were around "60,000 such personnel on business visa" working in various projects.

"All visas issued to ZTE employees are being issued by Indian Government only after complying with procedural laws of the country. There is no agreement signed by ZTE for procuring visas for ZTE employees," ZTE statement added.

PTI