CBI looks into Army chief's letter against Lt General

New Delhi: The CBI is looking into Army Chief General VK Singh’s letter seeking probe into the allegations of corruption levelled by a Trinamool Congress MP against Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag. CBI sources said today the agency had received General Singh’s covering letter along with the annexed complaint from the MP Ambika Banerjee and it is likely to write to Cabinet Secretariat and Defence Ministry seeking records of purchases in the Special Frontier Force. [caption id=“attachment_259871” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The Army chief sent the CBI a letter alleging corruption by a Trinamool Congress MP. Representational image. Reuters”] [/caption] Banerjee had written the letter to the Defence Ministry in May last year, the sources said. General Suhag commands the Dimapur-based 3 Corps and is in line–after Lt Gen Bikram Singh–to be Army Chief. General Singh has now requested the CBI to carry out the probe into the allegations of corruption levelled by the MP in the deals of Special Frontier Force(SFF) when General Suhag was its Inspector General, the sources said. The Force works with Indian external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Banerjee has alleged that kickbacks were paid in the deals relating to supply of crucial equipment for the secret force ranging from night vision devices to parachutes, the sources said. The MP has named a number of senior army officers who have allegedly received kickbacks in these SFF deals, they claimed. The SFF, also known as Establishment-22, is a secret force raised after 1962 works under the RAW which comes under the control of Cabinet Secretariat. According to recent media reports, the force is facing a severe shortage of crucial equipment like parachutes as procurements were halted after allegations of irregularities in their procurement were brought to light by officers. PTI