Gen Singh had filed a detailed complaint with the federal investigation agency that Lt Gen Tejinder Singh had offered him Rs14 crore as bribe.
The CBI on Wednesday formally initiated a probe into the allegations leveled by army chief General VK Singh that he was offered bribe by a lobbyist.
Gen Singh had on Tuesday filed a detailed complaint with the federal investigation agency that Lt Gen Tejinder Singh (retired) had offered him Rs14 crore as bribe to clear a tranche of sub-standard vehicles for the army. However, Tejinder Singh has denied the allegations and filed a defamation case in a Delhi court against the army chief and others.
“The CBI has registered a Preliminary Enquiry in a matter related to an alleged offer of bribe to the chief of army staff by a retired army officer on behalf of a private person, in connection with procurement of vehicles by Indian Army. The incident had reportedly occurred in September, 2010,” CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra said in a statement.
According to a CBI official, the agency has named Lt Gen Tejinder Singh(retired) and Vectra chief Ravi Rishi in its preliminary enquiry. London-based NRI Ravi Rishi has already been interrogated by the CBI in connection with Tatra truck scam probe. And very soon, the CBI is going to record the statement of Tejinder Singh. Besides Tejinder Singh, the CBI will also ask defence minister AK Antony to record his statement, as he was the one to whom Army chief had informed about the incident.
A preliminary enquiry is made before registering an FIR but during this initial probe the agency does not have power to question, search or arrest a suspect. The CBI might convert the preliminary inquiry into an FIR if it finds prima-facie evidence of any alleged wrong-doing.
In a recent interview to a newspaper, the army chief had claimed that an equipment lobbyist had offered him a bribe of Rs 14 crore, a matter he had reported to Antony.
The ministry had then recommended a CBI probe into the allegation made by the General.
In the initial communication to the CBI, the army chief had said that there was a bribe offer from Tejinder Singh, following which the CBI had asked him to submit detailed description of the incident, list of possible witnesses and supporting documents on the issue.
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