Purchase of Tatra trucks on hold: Army chief
20 Sep 2012
Army chief Gen Bikram Singh said on Wednesday that the procurement of Tatra trucks has been put on hold in view of the ongoing Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into allegations of corruption against the company.
"A decision (on further purchases of buy Tatra trucks) has to be taken based on the CBI inquiry. It is on hold. An inquiry is on in the case and we need to wait for that to get over before we take any decisions," he told the media in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Gen Singh was asked if the Army would go ahead with the procurement of Tatra trucks for deploying its Pinaka and other heavy rockets and missiles, after his predecessor general Vijay Kumar Singh levelled serious allegations of corruption in the procurement of these Czech multi-purpose trucks, which he claimed were below par in performance.
The previous army chief, Gen V K Singh, had alleged that he was offered a bribe of Rs14 crore by a retired officer to clear the procurement of 600 more Tatra trucks for the Army.