Quattrochi's death should not affect the probe: BJP

NEW DELHI: BJP leaders and those involved in pursuing the Bofors scam today said prime accused Ottavio Quattrochi's death should not result in closing the probe into where the kickbacks went and the truth should be unearthed.

"This was a big scam, a big scandal and so all aspects should be probed and it should be seen how India's money can be brought back," BJP Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.

Janata Party Chief Subramanian Swamy demanded that the case should be reopened and it should not matter that Quattrochi is dead, as it is important to expose others involved in the scam.

N Ram, former Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, said Quattrochi may be dead but the truth is very much alive and has been documented.

"There was an attempt to cover-up. On no account should Quattrochi's role be revealed- this was the instruction given to the CBI by the then Rajiv Gandhi government. Its shameful that the Indian system, as also the courts, could not do anything. They said too much money had been spent and nothing could be done," Ram said.

He maintained that it is the cover-up that prevented justice from being done.

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Shingvi, however, said that Quattrochi was a "ghost" created by the BJP and slammed the opposition for seeking to drag his name to "besmirch" the party and the Gandhi family.

"I don't understand why Congress should react to the death of somebody who has been a ghost created by BJP. Somebody has died, his family deserves condolences," he said.