Arms deal whistleblower claims Varun Gandhi was honey-trapped, blackmailed

NEW DELHI: US-based C Edmonds Allen, whose earlier complaints had led to investigation of arms dealer Abhishek Verma (he's out on bail now), has written to the Prime Minister's Office that Varun Gandhi, BJP MP, has been "honey trapped and compromised" by Verma.

In a September 16 letter sent to the PMO, Allen alleges Gandhi is being blackmailed by the arms dealer. Allen has provided a CD with several dozen photographs.

The PMO did not respond to a detailed questionnaire sent by ET. Varun Gandhi told ET said that the charges “are too ridiculous to comment on”. Allen told ET that he wants a probe into the matter and that he decided to write to the PM as he is a 'man of action'.

Gandhi is no longer on the defence consultative committee and senior leaders in BJP said documents or information of classified nature are not usually shared with members of the parliamentary committee.

Allen was earlier an escrow agent for Verma and had shared several hundred documents with Indian authorities in 2012 that led to several cases being registered against the arms dealer, including one under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), as sensitive defence ministry documents were leaked.

The letter is also marked to the defence minister and national security advisor to “help them to identify if any other members of the defence consultative committee or their staff are compromised by the likes of Abhishek Verma”.