A callow prime minister, a global superstar, shadowy international arms dealers, crafty middlemen and nosy journalists were the dramatis personae of a real-life political thriller that played out in Stockholm, Davos, Bern, Geneva and New Dehi nearly four decades ago.
Of all the names crowding India's biggest and most notorious $1.4 billion arms purchase scandal involving the Bofors howitzer guns manufactured by a Swedish armaments giant was one investigative journalist who stood out for her relentless pursuit of the truth behind who received the kickbacks. That journalist, now the well-known veteran of the profession Chitra Subramaniam faced threats to her and her family’s lives, had her car brake slashed, windshield broken and even offered a suitcase full of what remains a mystery.
Chitra, who has lived near Geneva, Switzerland for a long time, has revisited that remarkable story in her book ‘Boforsgate: A Journalist’s Pursuit of Truth’.
Among other questions the book examines whether the late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was a beneficiary of the Bofors kickbacks. It is a scandal that may be dated but still retains toe juice for the current generation. 

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