Feb 12 (Reuters) : The head of Italian defence group Finmeccanica was  arrested on Tuesday in a corruption probe centred on the sale of helicopters to the Indian government, a judicial source said.

Earlier a report on the online version of Corriere della Sera newspaper said Finmeccanica chief executive and chairman Giuseppe Orsi had been arrested for bribes allegedly paid to secure the sale of 12 helicopters to India.

A spokesman for Finmeccanica was not immediately able to comment. The source said that three other people had been placed under house arrest as part of the probe, including the chief executive of Finmeccanica helicopter unit AgustaWestland, Bruno Spagnolini.

Orsi has always denied wrongdoing over a corruption probe looking at a 560 million euro ($749.2 million) Indian helicopter contract.

State-controlled Finmeccanica has previously said it has always done business in India through official channels. Italy's corporate class has been shaken recently by a series of corruption cases, notably a derivatives scandal at Banca Monte dei Paschi and an alleged bribery case involving oil service group Saipem.

The latest series of scandals have become an issue in Italy's campaign for parliamentary elections to be held on February 24-25.
   
Meanwhile, reacting to the arrest of Finmeccanica's head Giuseppe Orsi in Italy, India said Italy has not shared details of a corruption probe into the sale of helicopters to the Indian government.

"We had asked the government of Italy through our mission in Rome for details of the investigation but were told that it is a judicial process and the government of Italy is unable to share any information," foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said. "That remains the position even today."
   
India's defence ministry said it could not immediately comment. The 560 million euros ($735 million) deal was to sell 12 high-security AgustaWestland choppers for use by India's political leaders. The first helicopters were due to be delivered by December 2012.