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Tejinder
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New Delhi, Oct. 20: The CBI today registered a case against Tejinder Singh, who retired as lieutenant general in July 2010, for allegedly trying to bribe then army chief V.K. Singh two months later to clear a truck contract.
“We registered a case today against Tejinder Singh under Section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly offering a bribe of Rs 14 crore on behalf of a private supplier of trucks to the then army chief. The bribe was allegedly offered for clearing the proposal pending with him for procurement of 1,676 high mobility vehicles for the Indian Army,” a CBI officer said.
The agency also conducted searches at the residence of Tejinder in Delhi and the offices of the Vectra group, which owns the Tatra truck brand, in Noida and Mumbai.
The CBI probe was ordered by defence minister A.K. Antony after V.K. Singh alleged in an interview that a retired officer had offered him a bribe to renew a contract for Tatra trucks. Following a formal complaint by the then army chief in April this year, the CBI had registered a preliminary inquiry into the alleged bribe offer.
“We have got some evidence in the case and that’s why the PE has been converted into an FIR. We will now interrogate Tejinder to ascertain more facts and, if needed, both he and the complainant will be confronted,” the CBI officer added.
Tejinder, who denies all allegations, had filed a defamation case against V.K. Singh.
The CBI is also separately probing alleged irregularities in the Tatra deal and has questioned Ravi Rishi, the NRI chairman of the Vectra group, several times.
It has registered an FIR against Rishi and unknown officials of the ministry of defence and Bharat Earth Movers Limited, a defence public sector unit that supplied the trucks sourced from Tatra to the army.
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