CBI to quiz three army procurement officials who joined Vectra post retirement

The CBI is all set to question three retired Army officials who held key positions in procurement and quality assurance units and joined Ravinder Rishi’s firm Vectra, post retirement. The agency is trying to establish links that Rishi may have had in the Defence establishment who helped him in the procurement and supply of Tatra all terrain vehicles from BEML, sources said. [caption id=“attachment_338280” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The officials reportedly did not highlight shortcomings in the Tatra trucks: PTI”]  [/caption] The agency has questioned a number of BEML and Vectra officials in connection with the case. CBI sources said they suspect that these officials did not underline shortcomings in the Tatra vehicles, during their tenure at Master General Ordnance Branch and the Directorate General of Quality and Assurance. They said Army officers had highlighted shortcomings in the Tatra vehicles especially during high altitude operations on higher gradient levels. However the two quality branches did not question the suppliers on these issues. All three officials had joined Vectra at senior positions post retirement. Two had joined Vectra Engineering, while one joined Vectra Global Helicorp. The agency has written to the Defence Ministry seeking records of quality checks done by it and reports of field offices who were using these vehicles during the period. The CBI is also probing if better vehicles were available with the Czech Republic based Tatra, why were they not preferred despite the Tatra supply agreement being renewed twice - in 1997 and 2003. PTI