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Wing commander sacked for accepting bribe

He had taken Rs 20k from Dassault Aviation during Aero India-2011 in Bangalore
Last Updated 16 July 2013, 19:28 IST

A senior Indian Air Force (IAF) officer, Wing Commander A K Thakur, has been dismissed from service for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from French aviation major Dassault Aviation during Aero India, 2011, held in Bangalore.

A general court martial had earlier recommended his dismissal. Air headquarters on Tuesday confirmed his sacking.

The tainted officer, who was a fighter pilot, was later shifted to the flying transport aircraft and would not be entitled to avail pension.

In the absence of the charge sheet in public domain, it is believed that he accepted money from Dassault to offer a prominent position for Rafale fighters in the static display at Aero India, 2011. The sources, however, told Deccan Herald that the officer accepted money for an entirely different reason.

Aero India, 2011, happened before India finalised the winner of the $10.4 billion race to buy 126 fighter jets for the IAF. Out of the six players in the fray, five were present in Bangalore to impress the decision makers. Rafale was one of them.

Thakur allegedly accepted money from aviation companies to facilitate the departure of their aircraft from the Yelahanka airbase at the earliest.

Spending more time at the Airshow means aviation firms who took those aircraft on lease had to pay more parking fee to the IAF. Also, the aviation firms have to pay hiring fee to various Air Forces which provided the platforms to companies for flying and display at Bangalore.

Both parking and hiring fee are quite hefty as they are calculated in dollars and on an hourly basis. To avoid paying those charges, the companies wanted the planes to depart as soon as the show was over.

After Thakur was spotted accepting money from European firms, assuring them quick and out of turn departure, a trap was laid by officials from the department of defence production.

The French company is understood to have informed officials in the Defence Ministry when it received the offer. The officer was caught red-handed accepting Rs 20,000 in marked currency notes. A Court of Inquiry (CoI) was instituted against Wing Commander Thakur on the basis of a report by the Assistant Provost Marshall (Bangalore), Wing Commander Vijay Kumar. The CoI was headed by Group Captain Daniel Victor.

However, it took almost two years for the IAF to sack the tainted officer because Thakur approached various courts seeking relief against the CoI order. The officer has an option of approaching the Armed Forces Tribunal.

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(Published 16 July 2013, 19:28 IST)

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