Tag Archives: Gen Singh

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Did Lt Gen (Retd) Tejinder Singh have a mole in Gen VK singh’s office?

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Neeraj Chauhan, TNN | Apr 24, 2012, 01.36AM IST

NEW DELHI: Army chief General V K Singh has told CBI officials that the day Lt Gen (Retd) Tejinder Singh came to visit him in his South Block office (September 22, 2010) and made a bribery offer of Rs 14 crore, the file relating to purchase of Tatra trucks was lying on his table.

Sources said the agency is probing the likelihood of some “black sheep” in Army Headquarters or the Army chief’s office tipping off Lt Gen Tejinder Singh that the Tatra file was awaiting Gen Singh’s clearance and whether that prompted the retired lieutenant general to pay the chief a visit.

The CBI, which is likely to question Lt Gen Singh this week, is also poring over his call records to ascertain if someone called him on that day to inform him about the Tatra file. Agency sources said the call records would also prove if Lt Gen Singh was in touch with Vectra chief Ravi Rishi either before or after his meeting with the Army chief.

Gen Singh has also told CBI officials that when he saw the number of trucks to be procured mentioned on the Tatra file, he called up all his commands to know about their requirement and “the requirement of Army commands was way less than what was mentioned on the file”. CBI sources believe a section in the Army Headquarters which was lobbying for Tatra trucks could have facilitated the file’s movement up to the chief’s office.

After seeing such a large number of Tatra trucks mentioned in the file, the Army chief had cancelled the deal, sources said. CBI officials refused to give details of the requirement mentioned on the file. “The number of trucks required mentioned on file were much higher than the actual requirement by all the commands of the Army,” said a top source.

These facts were given by Gen Singh to a CBI team on Friday when it recorded his statement. The agency has already found the record of Lt Gen Tejinder Singh’s visit on that day from the visitor’s register. The Army chief has also provided several documents, which suggest that Tatra trucks were wrongly favoured.

The Army chief has assured CBI of providing more evidence soon.

In another development, after fresh revelations of Rishi and his family members being the beneficiaries of Hemang Foundation, a trust based in Liechtenstein which fully controls Tatra Sipox (UK), the CBI on Monday again questioned Rishi at its headquarters. The agency also quizzed Vectra group executive Anil Mansaramani.

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Gen VK Singh stalled BEML’s 1,000 truck order in 2010

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TNN | Apr 14, 2012, 12.29AM IST

NEW DELHI: Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), which is in the eye of the storm kicked up by the Army chief’s claim about a Rs 14-crore bribe offer, was preparing to supply 1,000 Tatra trucks in 2010 when General V K Singh stalled the entire acquisition.

Sources said BEML, the Bangalore-based defence PSU, had on the assurance of the then Master General of Ordnance (MGO) of the Army in 2010, had taken “advance action” for supply of 1,000 Tatra vehicles. All these vehicles were to of 6×6 and 8×8 variants.

It is not clear if Gen Singh refused clearance after September 22, 2010, the day he was allegedly offered the bribe by Lt Gen Tejinder Singh on behalf of Tatra.

Tatra truck purchases are usually sent by MGO directly to the ministry of defence (MoD), BEML later pointed out to the MoD. But in 2010, the Army chief had asked for the Tatra file and put the acquisition on hold. Instead, the Army moved a proposal to the Defence Acquisition Council, headed by defence minister A K Antony, for a competitive global tender for the purchase of 6×6 and 8×8 trucks.

The last order for Tatra trucks were placed with BEML in March, 2010, a few days before Gen VK Singh took over as the Army chief on March 31. The last order was for 788 vehicles out a total projected requirement of 3,296.

While the last order was placed by MGO Lt Gen Vinay Sharma, his successor told the BEML that there was no requirement for new vehicles to be acquired from revenue budget.

The Army is presently processing the global competitive tender, which could take several months to complete.

The forces’ stand on Tatra acquisition would be a key component of the ongoing CBI probe into Gen Singh’s allegation that he was offered Rs 14 crore bribe for clearing the purchase of Tatra trucks.

While many of the documents related to Tatra deal – from the Army HQ, MoD and BEML – have been handed over to the CBI, indications are that the agency is yet to get any ‘breakthrough’ documents to show corruption trail in the Tatra deal.

CBI officials would be meeting with Gen Singh, who was away in Punjab on Friday, for collecting further clarification to his written complaint about the bribe offer.