Pinto extradited, CBI hopes to wrap up urea case

Pinto, whose last ditch appeals before the British Home Office was dismissed last evening, did not reply to queries by mediapersons and instead chose to walk straight into the headquarters.

"No comments and I would not like to speak," Pinto told the anxiously waiting mediapersons.

A three-member CBI team comprising Deputy Legal Advisor V N Ohja, Deputy Superintendent of Police N K Mukherjee and Inspector Hardeep Singh, which left for London on Sunday, received the green signal last evening from the British Home Office for taking Pinto to India to stand trial in the case.

The British Home Department ordered extradition of Pinto, an agent of Turkish firm Karsan, after the CBI accused him of having received kickbacks in the scam.

According to sources, the extradition could help unravel some details on how money changed hands in securing the deal and who were the key persons who swung the deal in favour of Karsan Limited.

The CBI has alleged that Pinto, who had introduced key accused Sambasiva Rao to the Karsan company (which made him its agent in India), had received money from Turkish firm to his account during the scam period.

CBI sources said Pinto had signed a contract with National Fertilizer Limited (NFL) for supply of urea four months before the Rs 133 crore deal was signed with Karsan.

When the three lakh tonnes of urea did not reach Delhi on schedule as per the contract with Karsan, Pinto visited India in late 1995 to assure the NFL officials that the supplies would be reaching soon.

The CBI in 1997 issued a letter rogatory to the authorities in London, seeking assistance in locating and interrogating Pinto. He was traced easily as he was under detention in London for traffic offence.

His extradition was ordered by a Bow Street magistrate on April 16, 1998 but the accused then filed appeals in various courts and departments. Later, the order of the magistrate was endorsed by the British Home Secretary but Pinto again filed an appeal against the order in a higher court.

CBI recently received crucial documents running into over 700 pages, related to money transaction by Karsan executives Tunkay Alankus and Cihan Karanci, who were extradited in 1997.

Besides Alankus and Karanci, CBI has chargesheeted seven persons including former NFL chairman C K Ramakrishanan and its executive director D S Kanwar in the case.

Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao’s kin Sanjiva Rao and former Union Minister Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav’s son Prakash Yadav are among the accused in the scandal.