6 army officials convicted in graft case

Six Indian Army officials, including a colonel and a major, and a proprietor of a private firm have been convicted by a Central Bureau of Investigation court in four graft cases.

The convicted armymen had, in association with a Ambala-based busineesman, prepared bogus bills indicating purchases by the Western Command of Chandigarh and thereby cheated the army unit of nearly Rs 12 lakh.

The special judge of CBI Chandigarh convicted Colonel K K Pandey, Captain Sudhir Deopujari, Captain Suresh Hingorani, Major D K Roy, Havaldar Santosh Kulkarni, auditor Anil Dalal of the store contract section of the CDA Western Command of  Chandigarh, and Naresh Chadha, proprietor of Ambala-based firm United Trading Company, in the cases, said a CBI spokesperson.

The court sentenced Capt Deopujari, who was then a brigade ordinance officer, and Chadha to six years' imprisonment, Capt Hingorani and Havaldar Kulkarni to three years in jail, while others got a sentence of one-and-half years.

In 1990, Col Pandey had entered into criminal conspiracy with Captain Deopujari and Chadha along with a firm called Swiss Batteries.

"Chadha, contractor of the firm, and the accused prepared four bogus bills indicating purchase by the army unit without actually supplying any material and thereby cheating the Western Command, Chandigarh, to the tune of Rs 2.25 lakh," the CBI spokesperson said.

The accused had cheated the army unit in a similar way on four occasions using bogus bills.