The stand-off between Jet Airways and its namesake in the US has become murkier with the latter contending it has new evidence about the alleged link between the Indian carrier and an underworld don.

The Bethesda, Maryland-based US company levelled the new allegations in its answer on June 10 to the Indian carrier's first rejoinder to the original allegations filed with the US Department of Transportation.

Neither George U. Carneal, the attorney representing Jet Airways India nor Nancy M. Heckermen, chief executive and president of Jet, USA, returned calls from IANS for comments on the fresh charges.

The contentions of Jet Airways, USA, are included in the docket number 21,136 in the Docket Management System of the Department of Transportation.

A Jet airways spokesperson in New Delhi said the counter-allegations were as malicious as the earlier set of false claims and mala fide charges levelled by the US company.

"It is evident that the US firm is levelling these mischievous, malicious and false claims just to stop a bona fide airline with an excellent track record from trying to start operations to the United States," the spokesperson said.

"We are rather assured that these allegations will fall flat and Jet Airways will start operations to the US soon," the spokesperson told IANS.

The Indian carrier had intended to launch its flights from Mumbai to New Jersey via Brussels from the third week of June.

The American company alleged it had obtained new evidence that substantiated "extraordinary and complex crimes" and broadened "the scope and extent of the averments" against Jet Airways owner Naresh Goyal and Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar.

"The information has been given to the appropriate agencies of the US government and they will make their own investigations to verify with truth and accuracy of the newly found information which extends far beyond the Kaskar name," it said.

"The result of the investigations is crucial to the decisions that the assistant secretary of aviation and international affairs, and/or Administrative judge, make concerning the applicant's (Jet India's) applications to the Department of Transportation for foreign air carrier permit and exemption," the US firm said.

The American company also accused the Indian carrier of employing "underworld tactics" to intimidate it. The company claimed that on June 6 "a low class thug who claimed to be a newspaper man, and then a detective, called and attempted to threaten and intimidate the Officers and staff of Jet Airways at their offices."

In February, the US firm asked the Department of Transportation not to grant a licence to the Indian carrier to fly to the US on the grounds that there were trademark problems because of the names and alleged underworld links.

Jet India formally applied for a licence to operate flights between India and the US on May 2 as part of the open skies agreement between the two countries. Jet India's US attorney George U. Carneal, of the Washington law firm Hogan and Hartson LLP, later filed an answer to Jet USA's objections mainly on the grounds of trade name dispute.

He also said that Jet America was trying to "besmirch" the good reputation of his client by calling it an Al Qaeda airline and trying to defame the company and its chairman Naresh Goyal.

He described the allegations of any link between Goyal and Ibrahim "patently false and absurd and scurrilous." He denied that either Jet India or Goyal ever had any financial dealings with Ibrahim or Al Qaeda.

As the allegations and rejoinders continued, Jet India got a shot in the arm when the Port Authority of Newark and New Jersey have given Jet a clean chit and said it supported the carrier's US entry and appreciated its choice of airport.