From firms listening in Delhi hotel to a list of 96 contacts, what Christian Michel told ED

In his interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate, Christian Michel, the British middleman in the VIP helicopter bribery scam, opens a window to how arms agents navigate the Indian landscape by revealing some of his strategies, including how he initially masked the helicopter deal bid as a UK firm’s project to brighten its chances. He, however, disowned several documents he was confronted with, and fax dispatches he had allegedly dictated personally — even in front of key witnesses.

Over the past three days, The Indian Express reported key revelations from the ED’s interrogation, including Michel’s claims on how he lobbied the then UPA Government to salvage the deal in 2010, an intervention by then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton —