Bachchan exultant on being cleared by Bofors investigator

After the former head of Swedish police Sten Lindstrom said that the case for the involvement of Hindi movie superstar Amitabh Bachchan in the Bofors deal was cooked up by Indian investigators, the 'Big B' as he is often called has expressed relief at being authoritatively exonerated in the case; and said ''no one could fathom'' the anguish he had endured due to the allegations. (See: Top Bofors investigator clears Rajiv Gandhi; but says he abetted cover-up)

''I speak from personal experience and personal exoneration. 25 years after the incident, I read today from one that pioneered the accusation and investigation, of innocence. Of the fault that never lay before me. Of one that remained and shall perhaps remain a darkened spot, blemished beyond all recognition …'' he wrote on his blog in a late night post.

Lindstrom, the main Swedish investigator in the case as well as the whistleblower who exposed the affair to Indian journalists, said on Tuesday that Bachchan was not involved in the Bofors scam, and the false allegations against him were leaked to a Swedish newspaper by Indian investigators during the V P Singh government.

''No one shall be able to understand or even remotely fathom, the hours and days and months and years of the anguish of petulant blame, that I had to go through. But will it really interest another? No it shall not. For, those that colluded in desperation still abound, without as much as a conscious twitch on their well-articulated and fashionably cleaned skins,'' he said rather cryptically and ungrammatically on his blog.

Amitabh Bachchan, who was a Congress MP, and his brother Ajitabh were among those accused of involvement in the tainted deal to buy Howitzers from AB Bofors for the Army. The Bachchans had filed a case in the UK, and the Swedish newspaper was forced to retract its report and apologise.

Bachchan had become a Congress MP in 1984 after being persuaded by Rajiv Gandhi, who was then a close friend, to join politics. However, following allegations of involvement in the Bofors scam the actor, disillusioned with politics, has stayed away from the Congress party. In fact it is an open secret that there is no love lost between Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv's widow, and Bachchan.

Bachchan said even if his detractors had succeeded, ''Would it really have been of any relevance? Of course not! Their mission was misguidance, connived to its maximum, for issues that never ever did be of any concern in the execution of their own selfish mercenary agenda. They won momentarily. But lost ultimately. Lost position and strength and power yes, but importantly their conscience. And today that counts the most!'' he said.

''Loss of one's conscience would have to be the most defeating element in our lives. Somewhere we shall all fall victim to it. But, greatness lies with them that redeem it …. in time!! ''