Nitish questions NDA govt's sincerity over Augusta deal probe

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with DGP PK Thakur in Patna on Saturday

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday questioned the seriousness of NDA government in probing the AgustaWestland helicopter deal and said an "impartial" investigation should be held so that the guilty are punished.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with DGP PK Thakur in Patna on Saturday. Pic/PTI

"Why does it taking so long for the inquiry into the deal of AgustaWestland chopper? Why has not the Centre completed the probe yet?" Kumar told reporters while replying to a query on the chopper deal.

"The present government is not serious regarding probe into the chopper deal... they are only looking for excuses to make speeches on the issue," the JD(U) President said, virtually echoing the stand of the Congress which is facing heat in Parliament over the matter.

Earlier, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi had questioned Kumar's "silence" over the chopper deal in which Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is under attack from the ruling party. The UPA government had said that the deal was cancelled when allegation of irregularities came into the picture.