The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) searched the residences of two former Army officers and a Vectra official here and in Noida on Wednesday, as part of its probe into allegations of bribery in the supply of Tatra trucks to the Army.
The premises searched were the residences of Brigadier (retd.) P.C. Das at Vasant Kunj, Colonel (retd.) Anil Dutta at Noida, and Vectra official Anil Mansaramani, sources in the CBI said.
The raids came a day after the CBI questioned BEML Chairman and Managing Director V.R.S. Natarajan, the company's former Procurement Director, V. Mohan, and Vectra chairman Ravinder Rishi.
Vectra, which has a controlling stake in Tatra Sipox UK, has come under the CBI scanner for the alleged irregularities in the supply of all-terrain vehicle components to BEML, which has supplied 7,000 trucks to the Army in the past two decades.
Armed with the information that emerged during the questioning, the sleuths conducted the searches to collect documents and more information, the sources said.
On March 30, the agency registered a case against Mr. Rishi and unnamed officials of the Defence Ministry, the Army and BEML for alleged criminal conspiracy and cheating, and also under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The case was filed after Army Chief General V.K. Singh told The Hindu that he was offered Rs. 14 crore in bribe by a lobbyist to clear another tranche of the trucks for the Army.
Vectra has denied any wrongdoing.
