At 8 a.m. New Delhi time, the direct flight to London departed on time.

Because it was a westbound flight, eight hours later, the flight arrived at London Heathrow International Airport at 11am GMT.

By the time the flight took off, the ink-smelling morning newspaper had already been put on the newsstands in the streets of New Delhi.

It has been printed in black and white, but it will take time to spread.

Around nine o'clock, a television station in Mumbai was the first to report that there was a serious ** in the bidding process of the Indian Ministry of Defence.

Why Mumbai, and not New Delhi's TV station?

Quite simply, this is a tender for the equipment of the army, and Mumbai is the nest of the Indian Navy, and the authorities in Mumbai are not very interested in New Delhi.

The TV station reported it publicly, like poking a hornet's nest.

In just a few hours, the news was broadcast on TV stations all over India, and there was a flood of news on the Indian network.

It came suddenly, without warning.

When the gendarmes arrived, Rajani had just received information and was about to make a phone call to his close adjutant, but it was not necessary because the adjutant was already under the control of the gendarmerie.

Subsequently, Rajani was held incommunicado.

At the same time, the gendarmerie seized Rajani's office and residence.

Because it involves high-level military officials and is still in charge of the procurement office of the Ministry of National Defense, it has nothing to do with the police, and even the court can't speak.

When the flight of Wang Dong and others landed, the news had spread abroad.

It's just that the Western media has not paid much attention to this matter, and according to a British TV commentary, this is not news in India at all.

It is strange that India imports billions or even tens of billions of dollars in arms every year, and the Ministry of Defense does it single-handedly.

Reporting on this, the host of British television referred to India's purchase of Rafale fighters.

Although it was not explicitly stated, it emphasized that more than $8 billion was spent on the purchase of 36 fighter jets, implying that the Indian officials in charge of the procurement took kickbacks.

Of course, British TV has ulterior motives to bring up the old story.

The reason is that the EF2000 participated in the tender for India's "medium multi-role fighter", and it was led by the United Kingdom, which was once the most popular and was considered the most likely to win the bid, but was rejected by India, and after the resumption of the project, India chose the French "Rafale".

Judging by the price alone, the EF2000 is not more expensive than the Rafale.

In addition, Rafale has never received overseas orders before, while EF2000 has been exported to several countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

In the words of a British TV host, Saudi Arabia, who never looks at the price and only seeks the best, chose the EF2000, which is enough to prove the excellent performance of this fighter.

As for multi-purpose capabilities, the EF2000's excellence on the battlefield in Yemen is the best proof of this.

It was only in the afternoon that the Indian authorities issued a statement.

The content is not very much, except that it is announced that an investigation has been launched into the scandal reported by the news media, and the main parties have been controlled in the first place.

In fact, by this time, the Indian authorities already had conclusive evidence.

At Rajani's residence, the gendarmes found the Land Rover SUV and found a miniature radio transmitter on board, confirmed to be a spy device.

Although Rajani never used the car after the meeting, there is reason to believe that he provided information related to the tender after accepting bribes.

Of course, the key lies in that launcher.

As long as the investigators used a little more snacks, they could find a memory chip in the transmitter, a cache chip to be exact.

The data written into this chip, that is, a fixed line of code, is related to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency.

In fact, the launcher came from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency.

This evidence alone can convict Rajani of treason!

Of course, the investigation takes time.

In addition, the direction of the investigation depends on the intention of the Indian prime minister.

In a sense, Rajani was just a puppet, and the vast majority of the bribes he received were given to his superiors through secret means.

As far as Wang Dong knows, only one-tenth of what goes into Rajani's pocket is at most.

Going up, many officials in the Indian Ministry of Defense will be unlucky.

Maybe the prime minister will be involved.

Don't forget, it was the Indian Prime Minister who personally went to France and signed a sky-high contract for the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft for more than $8 billion!

Although Rajani has no direct relationship with the prime minister, it takes more than greed to dare to recoup in billions of dollars in purchases.

Without the support from above, even if Rajani had this thief's heart, he would not have the courage to do so.

It can be said that this is a fuse connected to the explosives depot, which, if not extinguished in time, will inevitably cause a political earthquake in India!

In this regard, Wang Dong did not take it seriously.

Back in Edinburgh, Serena immediately announced as the president of D&F that she had withdrawn from the procurement tender in India.

Subsequently, an announcement appeared in the most prominent position on the front page of D&F's official website that D&F had no connection with the scandal in the Indian Ministry of Defence and had no prior knowledge of it, and withdrew from the tender only because it could not meet the demanding requirements put forward by the head of the Indian Ministry of Defence.

The implication is that Rajani had solicited bribes from D&F.

Of course, this is only an extremely carefully worded official statement, without revealing any details, let alone mentioning the bribery.

In Wang Dong's words, it is enough to arouse speculation from the outside world.

That night, Serena received calls from several big names, including Lawrence and the mayor of Edinburgh, all of whom expressed sympathy and support for D&F.

Three days later, H&K also announced that it was withdrawing from the procurement tender.

Like D&F, H&K issued an official announcement citing its inability to reach agreement with the Indian side on issues involving trade secrets.

At this point, only FN was left.

So, will FN be able to get the Indian Army's procurement contract?

On the day that H&K announced that it was withdrawing from the procurement tender, the Prime Minister of India personally delivered a speech saying that he would severely punish any corruption.

By this time, Rajani had been imprisoned in a military prison and had been relieved of all military duties.

According to the process, after he is "discharged early", that is, stripped of the rank of major general, he will be handed over to a military tribunal attached to the Ministry of Defense.

At this point, the chances of FN getting the Indian Army procurement contract are almost nil.

In the words of a British television report, unless FN does not take its reputation seriously, it should choose to retreat in due course.

In fact, even if FN has no choice, it may not necessarily end well.

The point is that after Rajani's conviction, the Indian authorities will certainly put pressure on FN, and FN will have to pay a huge price if it wants to get the Indian Army's order, and if it refuses to compromise, then the Indian authorities can terminate the tender for any reason.

FN needs a procurement contract from the Indian Army, but will it make a profit-making deal?