CBI to make all efforts for Quattrocchi's extradition

Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, against whom an Interpol Red Corner warrant was issued, continues to be a wanted criminal and the Central Bureau of Investigation will make every effort to extradite him and bring him before the court of law to face charges.

"Quattrocchi is wanted by the CBI in the case of cheating and criminal conspiracy for which a chargesheet has already been filed in a designated court in Delhi," a CBI spokesman said.

• Bofors: The Smoking Gun

The spokesman said the Interpol Red Corner notice against Quattrocchi was still valid.

The CBI had chargesheeted various people, including Hinduja brothers, in the Rs 64 crore Bofors payoff case.

However, the Hindujas appeared before the court and were finally discharged by the Delhi high court in 2005.

Quattrocchi has played a "hide-and-seek" game and managed to remain elusive from the trial prompting the investigating agency to issue a Interpol Red Corner notice against him.

CBI sources maintained that the agency did not have any substantial proof to link 2 million pounds (3 million Euro and $1 million) stashed in two bank accounts of Quattrocchi in the Bofors payoff case.

The CBI, which decided to make a submission to the Crown Prosecution Service in November 2005, had conveyed the decision finally in December to the British authorities that it did not have any evidence to link the money as Bofors proceeds.