Singh's bribery charge too sketchy: CBI

The CBI wants to meet army chief General VK Singh early next week to get complete details about his allegation sent to the bureau on Friday evening that retired Lt Gen Tejinder Singh had offered him a bribe to push a deal to purchase 600 Tatra trucks. General mum on bribe amount | Tejinder calls army chief a ‘frustrated man’ | Tatra trucks outstanding: DRDO chief

The CBI wants to meet army chief General VK Singh early next week to get complete details about his allegation sent to the bureau on Friday evening that retired Lt Gen Tejinder Singh had offered him a bribe to push a deal to purchase 600 Tatra trucks.

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A senior CBI official said the chief’s sketchy communication did not appear “convincing enough” to start a full-fledged enquiry. Tejinder Singh’s defence would be examined only after assessing the chief’s version of the incident.

“We need to get more details like why he (Gen VK Singh) is acting now as the incident is one-and-a-half-year-old… Only after getting details from the general, will we will register a preliminary enquiry or an FIR in the matter,” the official said.

The CBI, which is treating the bribery allegation as a stand-alone case, has registered an FIR, alleging that defence procurement guidelines were flouted by state-owned Bharat Earth Movers while procuring Tatra trucks.