Indian Tycoon Anil Ambani's Chopper Sabotage, Key Witness Found Dead

MUMBAI — An Indian aircraft technician who discovered a potential bid to sabotage the helicopter of one of the world's richest men has been found dead, police and the company he worked for said. Bharat Borge, who was in his 40s, was a senior technician with Air Works India Engineering, and last week discovered sand and stones in the fuel tank of a Bell 412 helicopter belonging to industrialist Anil Ambani. Borge's body was found on a railway track in a Mumbai suburb on Tuesday evening, according to police who said a note was also recovered.

Last week, when a mechanic reported possible sabotage to a helicopter owned by prominent industrialist Anil Ambani, police launched a criminal investigation. On Tuesday, Mumbai police said they suspect the mechanic has committed suicide. A complaint filed Friday with the Mumbai police by the helicopter's pilot, Raghvinder Nath Joshi, said that mechanic Bharat Borge on Thursday found in its engine mud and pebbles that could have downed the craft on its next flight. The helicopter, a Bell 412 owned by a unit of Mr. Ambani's Reliance ADA Group, had been scheduled to bring Mr. Ambani to work Friday morning.

On Tuesday, Mr. Borge, the mechanic, was found dead, run over by a Mumbai commuter train. Even before Mr. Borge's death, the incident made headlines because of the prominence of Mr. Ambani, whose fortune is estimated at more than $10 billion. Mr. Ambani and his brother inherited the Reliance group of companies from their father. The brothers have parted ways, splitting the empire in two. Mr. Ambani, 49 years old, heads Reliance Communications Ltd., a wireless company. He also has interests in finance and energy and is an aspiring Hollywood mogul. One of his enterprises, Reliance Big Entertainment, has pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to help the principals of Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG make movies in Hollywood.


Mr. Ambani had begun using a helicopter to get to his office to avoid Mumbai's notorious traffic jams. The 18-story home in south Mumbai he shares with his mother and his brother's family recently added a helipad.
The helicopter Mr. Ambani used was maintained by Air Works India Engineering, a Mumbai business that tends to a fleet of helicopters and planes. Mr. Borge, 47, was a senior technician at Air Works. While conducting maintenance on Thursday, Mr. Borge noticed a cap loose on the helicopter's fuselage, according to Mr. Joshi's complaint. "When he opened the filler cap in order to refit it correctly, he was shocked to notice that there were pebbles and gravel in the filler neck," the complaint said. "The helicopter could have easily taken off with the above material but shortly after taking off the pebbles would have entered into the gear box and would have caused mid-air loss of power which would have forced [the] landing of the helicopter resulting in loss of lives."
No one answered the telephone at Air Works offices late Tuesday night.
The complaint said: "Some persons, possible business rivals, were attempting to take away the life of Mr. Anil Ambani. This is clearly an attempt to murder."
Mumbai police say they had interviewed Mr. Borge and others about the incident as part of their investigation. The results of those interrogations aren't public.
Rakesh Maria, a joint commissioner of police in Mumbai, said that the investigation into the alleged sabotage was proceeding but that the police weren't ready to make any announcements yet. Police believe Mr. Borge took his own life, Mr. Maria said, adding, "Two eyewitnesses have seen him standing before the train."


PRAVESH YADAV

PGDM 1st sem

2009-11