The Enforcement Directorate is planning to approach the UAE, for the extradition of key 'Choppergate' middleman Christian James Michel, seeking to take an advantage of Modi's engagement with United Arab Emirates, which yielded agreement on co-operation in tracing crime.

Sources from ED revealed that a formal request was prepared already and would be dispatched within few days.

The development follows a significant admission on NDTV by the UK national, that his 2008 note to Peter Hullet, AgustaWestland India head, was real and the the British high commissioner in India was advised to target Congress President Sonia Gandhi as well as her close advisers to help sell 12 AW-101 helicopters.

According to the note, "As Mrs Gandhi is the driving force behind the VIP helicopter purchase, she will not fly any more in the Mi-8 (the ageing Russian-origin helicopters which needed to be replaced)." Key advisers named in the note were PM Manmohan Singh, M Veerappa Moily, Ahmed Patel, Pranab Mukherjee, M K Narayanan, Oscar Fernandes and Vinay Singh.

Confirming that the note went from his office, Michel said, "My note on calling Sonia the driving force is real, but this is lobbying, not bribing. My suggestion to target Sonia Gandhi doesn't mean that bribes were paid as I thought she was the most powerful person (at that time) like Amit Shah is today."

However, the middleman denied any meeting with Sonia, Ahmed Patel or any other Congress leader.

He further said that, “he had to rescue the Gandhis to rescue himself" and asserted that "kickbacks were paid in the AgustaWestland deal but they went below (then IAF chief) S P Tyagi, not above him". Michel claimed that "(he believes) great deal of bribe money is still in Mauritius or went back to Italy."

Mayuka