Army Chief Gen. V.K. Singh is now alleging a fresh scam and has even asked for a CBI probe against a serving officer, Lt Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag - third in line to be the next Army Chief.
According to report, Singh has forwarded the details of a 'procurement scam' within the Special Frontier Force. Trinamool MP Ambika Banerjee is reportedly responsible for the highlighting alleged payoffs in the purchase of night vision equipment, communication systems, weapons and even parachutes, the Indian Express wrote on Thursday.
The MP also named a former Army Chief in the letter, who he alleges received crores in kickbacks from defense purchases.
Gen. Singh has stirred up a storm with his allegations.
The CBI have now requested the Army Chief to send a formal written complaint following his claim he was offered Rs14 crores as a bribe in 2010 to clear the induction of a few hundred trucks into the Army.
In his March 12 letter to the PM, Gen. Singh noted the critical shortfall of ammunition for battle tanks, obsolete air defence weaponry and crippling deficiencies of 'crew-served weapons' in the infantry.
He said almost the entire air-defence weaponry was obsolete, with decades-old Soviet-origin air defence guns still used. There had been no fresh artillery acquisitions for over two decades, which he said added to the Army’s frustration.