Shankaranand, who headed Bofors probe panel, dead

Bangalore, Nov 20 : Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist and long time Congressman B. Shankaranand, who headed the joint parliamentary probe into 1.3 billion dollars Bofors gun scandal, died Thursday of cardiac arrest. He was 84.

He passed away at a private hospital in Belgaum, about 500 km from here. He was admitted to the hospital Nov 18 with kidney complications, his family members said.

Shankaranand was elected to the Lok Sabha eight times consecutively from Chikkodi constituency in Belgaum district. He was defeated in the 1996 elections and had virtually retired from active politics.

A former union minister, Shankaranand was chairman of the controversial Joint Parliamentary Committee which concluded that no bribes were given nor were there irregularities in the purchase of the Swedish howitzer guns.

The JPC was set up on Aug 1987 following allegations that the Swedish armament company Bofors had paid bribes to key Indian leaders and defence officials through secret Swiss bank accounts to win the $1.3 billion contract for the howitzer guns for the Indian Army.