NEW DELHI: The CBI on Wednesday registered a preliminary inquiry (PE) in connection with the alleged bribe offer to Army Chief General V K Singh.
Last month he had alleged that retired Lieutenant General Tejinder Singh had offered him Rs 14 crore to clear procurement of 600 Tatra trucks. The CBI officials said the agency might soon “examine” some persons in the bribe offer issue. If it found sufficient evidence, the agency might even register an FIR in the case. Last month, the Army chief had made public statements alleging that he had been offered bribe by an individual who recently retired from the Army. On March 30, he sent a written statement to the CBI stating that Tejinder was the person who made the bribe offer.
The CBI found the information given by the Army chief insufficient as it did not have details, including the one on the bribe amount. After a gap of 10 days, the Army Chief sent a detailed letter to the CBI on April 10. The Army chief had red-flagged the procurement of Tatra trucks in March 2010. The bribe offer reportedly came almost six months later, in September 2010.
Meanwhile, Tejinder Singh has filed a criminal defamation case against the Army chief and four other officers.