New Delhi:
Army Chief General V K Singh on Friday replied to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) confirming his allegation that he was offered a bribe by a lobbyist to clear the supply of a tranche of "sub-standard vehicle" for the force.
The Army Chief's revelation that he was offered a bribe six months after he took office in 2010 has led to renewed attention to how equipment is bought for the Army. The sale of 7000 trucks to the army by a company named Vectra is being formally investigated by the CBI.
The CBI was waiting for a formal complaint from the Army chief regarding details of alleged bribe offer to initiate a formal probe into the matter referred to it by the Ministry of Defence. CBI officers had met General Singh once on Monday evening.
The CBI raided Tatra offices in Bangalore and Delhi today. In an FIR it registered today, the CBI named Ravi Rishi, a London-based businessman who owns the Vectra Group and has majority stake in the Tatra trucks, a Czech manufacturer. Public sector unit BEML buys Tatra parts from Vectra and assembles trucks in Bangalore that were then sold to the army. The FIR also refers to unknown defense officials and authorities at BEML.