The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday examined Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh and Vectra Chairman Ravinder Rishi for the second consecutive day in connection with its probe in the alleged bribe offer made by the retired general to the then army chief V K Singh for clearing a tranche of sub-standard Tatra BEML trucks.
Dismissing Army Chief Gen V K Singh's comments on Tatra trucks as "not true", state-owned BEML ON Friday said that it had never received any single complaint from the force in its over two decades association.
BEML Chief V R S Natarajan was on Monday suspended by the defence ministry in connection with the Tatra case on a Central Bureau of Investigation recommendation after former army chief General V K Singh levelled allegations that he was offered Rs 14 crore bribe to clear a deal for 600 trucks.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to confront suspended BEML Chairman V R S Natarajan and Vectra Chairman Ravinder Rishi in its probe related to alleged irregularities in the procurement and supply of Tatra all-terrain vehicles.
A day after Gen V K Singh retired as the army chief, public sector BEML on Friday slapped a legal notice on him demanding an apology for his "false and motivated" allegations against it on the Tatra truck issue.
Bharat Earth Movers Limited Chairman and Managing Director V R S Natarajan on Tuesday appeared before the CBI as the agency had asked him to come for giving clarifications pertaining to procurement and supply of Tatra all-terrain trucks to the Indian Army.
Vectra chairman Ravinder Rishi was on Monday questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with alleged irregularities in the supply Tatra all-terrain trucks as it prepares to quiz the BEML Chairman V R S Natarajan on Tuesday.
Former Army Chief Gen VK Singh, whose last days in office were marred by a legal battle with the government in the Supreme Court, has sought to drag the Prime Minister's Office over his age row and the Tatra truck scandal saying a senior bureaucrat there was "orchestrating" the issues.
Former Army Chief General V K Singh on Friday rejected the demand for an apology made by BEML chief V R S Natarajan on allegations of bribe in the Tatra truck deal.
A day after V R S Natarajan was suspended, BEML on Tuesday said its senior-most director P Dwarakanath has been given the additional charge as its chairman and managing director. Informing the Bombay Stock Exchange of the decision, it said Dwarakanath, BEML director of Metro and Rail Business, was given additional charge as the Chairman and MD, after the government suspended Natarajan following a CBI recommendation against him in the Tatra truck purchase deal case.
Armed with "some crucial" evidence, the Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to make "some significant arrests" soon in connection with its probe into alleged irregularities in the procurement and supply of Tatra all-terrain vehicles.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has intensified its probe to unearth alleged irregularities in procurement and supply of all-terrain Tatra trucks to the army and has called some former defence ministry officials and executives of a private firm involved in the deal for questioning.
The three armed forces have put on hold induction of Tatra trucks for their ongoing projects from BEML in the wake of the ongoing investigations against it.
Under attack over alleged inaction on corruption charges, government on Friday said Defence Minister A K Antony has ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into a case relating to public sector undertaking BEML even as inquiry was on into a complaint about an alleged scam in purchase of Tatra trucks.
Launching its probe into Army Chief Gen V K Singh's allegation of having been offered bribe by an equipment lobbyist, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday registered a case for alleged irregularities in supply of all-terrain Tatra trucks through state-owned BEML to the Army.
The defence ministry on Wednesday sought an explanation from BEML chief V R S Natarajan for serving a legal notice on former Army Chief Gen V K Singh demanding an apology for his alleged defamatory statements against the defence PSU on the Tatra truck issue.
Notwithstanding controversy, Tatra trucks produced by the state-owned Bharat Earth Movers Limited are taking part in the summer trials conducted by the army for procuring heavy trucks to ferry missile and artillery systems.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday carried out searches at three locations in Noida and Delhi in connection with its probe into alleged irregularities in the procurement and supply of Tatra all-terrain vehicles to the Army. Three teams of the agency officials reached residences of two retired army officials and an official of Vectra early on Wednesday morning and took into their possession some crucial documents related to the deal, CBI sources said.
Former army chief General V K Singh had some time back claimed that he had scuttled a Bharat Earth Movers Limited bid to sell overpriced Tatra vehicles to the Indian Army. But in February 2012, the army quietly signed a contract with BEML for an even larger and more controversial purchase: a $275-million (about Rs 1,500 crore) contract for 204 armoured recovery vehicles.
The government is open to reviewing all cases of blacklisted defence firms on merit and has partially lifted a ban on Tatra trucks as it prepares a new policy that will allow foreign defence firms to legally hire agents, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said.
The recording device handed over by the then Army Chief V K Singh, purported to carry a conversation relating to bribe offer made to him, is malfunctioning and nothing can be retrieved from it, says CBI.
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