The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday registered a case against unknown officials of the Cabinet Secretariat and the Special Frontier Force (SFF) under the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) besides the wife of a former defence contractor and others for allegedly showing favours to a private firm in purchase of pre-fabricated shelters.
The agency has alleged that some R&AW officials repeatedly extended favours to contractor Shambhu Prasad Singh’s “Sai Baba Builders and Consultants” for supply of pre-fabricated tents to SFF for use at high altitude locations during 2009-2013. The accused officials had tweaked the contract conditions to ensure that the purchase order went to the same firm.
This caused a loss of about Rs. 22 crore to the exchequer and consequent gain to the private firm. Accordingly, three directors of the company – Shyam Sunder Bhatter, JPN Singh and Ms. Manjari, wife of Shambhu Prasad Singh – have also been named in the case. Understood to be close to the former Army chief, Mr. Singh assisted General (retired) V.K. Singh, now a Union Minister, in his works in the Ghaziabad constituency.
After registering the case, the CBI also conducted searches in the premises of the accused persons in Delhi and Kolkata.
“One of Mr. Singh’s companies was earlier under investigation for allegedly issuing fake bank guarantees to Assam Rifles. Two of his companies were subsequently blacklisted. He himself has been under scrutiny on various charges,” said a senior CBI official. In 2013, the Delhi Police had booked him in connection with alleged fraudulent sale of a property.
The Prime Minister’s Office had earlier forwarded to the CBI for action on the complaint regarding alleged corruption in the procurement of tents for the SFF. The surveillance unit was created under the R&AW following the Indo-China war in 1962.
About three years ago, procurement of parachutes meant for the SFF had also come under the scanner following accusations of irregularities in the process adopted for purchases.
