A day after Army Chief General V. K. Singh made a formal complaint to the Central Bureau of Investigation on an alleged bribery offer, the investigating agency on Wednesday registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) against unknown retired Army officers and private persons.
The Army Chief, in an interview to The Hindu published on March 26, alleged that a retired Army officer offered him Rs. 14 crore as bribe to clear a tranche of “substandard” vehicles for the Army. The incident had reportedly occurred in September 2010, sources in the CBI said.
Cannot search or nab
The CBI registers a PE before registering a regular First Information Report. However, during the initial probe it does not have powers to question, search or arrest a suspect.
The complaint gave details of the alleged bribery offer made by retired Lt. Gen. (retd.) Tejinder Singh. He, however, has denied the charge and filed a defamation case in a Delhi court.
