Bofors scam: Quattrocchi gets clean chit

NEW DELHI: The Interpol has removed the red-corner notice issued against Ottavio Quattrocchi, an Italian businessman who is being sought in India for criminal charges for acting as a conduit for bribes in the Bofors scandal, Times Now reported.

The 12-year-long Interpol red corner notice against Quattrocchi has been withdrawn by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

This comes just three weeks before the Congress-led UPA government's term ends.

The decision is apparently based on an opinion sent by Attorney General Milon Banerjee to the government in which he describes the notice as "a continuing embarrassment."

Banerjee writes: "The CBI is under an obligation to have the matters set right at the Interpol level as there is no basis on which the RCN can continue...I am of the firm opinion that immediate action should be taken to withdraw the Red Corner Notice".

Quattrochi's counsel had already sought the removal of the notice in October 2008.