Now, ED hopes ‘dead’ witness will assist agency in Agusta case
A little birdie tells us that we might have Khosla (witness) today or tomorrow somewhere. We continue to make enquiries ...we sincerely hope that he is somewhere...
Enforcement Directorate to court
NEWDELHI:A day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told a Delhi court that it “believes” KK Khosla, Ratul Puri’s charted accountant and a witness in the Agustawestland case, may have been killed, the central agency on Wednesday did a volte face and said it hoped that Khosla, missing for four months, could be “brought back” to assist its case.
The ED made these submissions on Wednesday while arguing against an anticipatory bail application moved by Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath. Puri is being probed for his role in alleged irregularities in the Rs. 3,600 crore Agustawestland VVIP chopper deal.
The court did not make any observation on ED’S submission, but extended Puri’s interim protection from arrest till Thursday.
ED counsel, DP Singh told special judge Arvind Kumar, “a little birdie tells us that we might have Khosla (witness) today or tomorrow somewhere.” He added, “We continue to make enquiries with regard to KK Khosla...we sincerely hope that he is somewhere and will assist us.”
The agency’s submission came a day after it said, “the man (Ratul Puri) is so influential that he is not only a flight risk, but we fear that one witness might have been killed. His {witness’s} family is so shocked that they are scared of filing an FIR.”
During the day’s proceeding, ED elaborated on Khosla’s role and said he was Puri’s chartered accountant, and used to maintain what in common parlance is called kachchi entries (or informal accounts, usually of unrecorded funds).
The ED on Tuesday told the court that Khosla recorded a statement before the income tax authorities and retracted it. “He did not destroy some documents. They were fearing him (Khosla) because of that and he has not been found. What has happened to him I do not know,” Singh said then.
The agency claimed on Wednesday that Puri was “tampering with the evidence”, has been “incommunicado” for the past two to three days and was “stonewalling” the agency.
ED said witnesses had “expressed” their fears to the investigating agency, and added that of the 3-4 employees working with Puri who assisted ED, two had already resigned. Singh said, “the important people in his life, people who have helped him grow are also scared. We are not revealing their names .... because we feel there will be a grave threat to their lives.”
Puri’s company, Hindustan Powerprojects Private Limited, released a statement on Wednesday that said: “Ratul Puri is fully cooperating with the Enforcement Directorate and has provided all the information requested. He is an industry icon and has worked to usher in 24x7 power for all in true sense. We categorically deny these allegations.”
Puri’s counsel, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, was not available for comment.