Tatra trucks bribery case: CBI records Antony, TKA Nair's statements

New Delhi: Probing the bribery allegation levelled by former Army Chief V K Singh, CBI has recorded the statements of Defence Minister AK Antony and the Prime Minister’s Advisor TKA Nair. The probe into the case, which was registered by CBI on the instruction of the Defence Ministry in 12 October, is heading no where as allegations levelled by Gen (retd) Singh, who is now BJP’s candidate from Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat, were not being substantiated, official sources said. The two were questioned to have their perspective about the allegations made by the former army chief when he claimed that Lt Gen (retd) Tajinder Singh had made an offer of Rs 14 crore to clear an order of over 1600 high-mobility Tatra trucks to Public Sector Undertaking BEML. [caption id=“attachment_1511939” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Antony has already recoded his statement. PTI[/caption] CBI decided to record the statements of Antony and Nair so that a final decision on whether to close the case or file a charge sheet can be taken at the earliest. “Yes, we recorded the statements of the Defence Minister and the former Principal Secretary in the PMO as witnesses in the case,” CBI Director Ranjit Sinha today said when asked if they had been questioned. The retired Lt Gen has denied Singh’s allegation. The former Army chief had said in his complaint that he had informed the Defence Minister after the purported bribe offer was made by the retired Lt Gen on 22 September, 2010. Nair was questioned by CBI as the former Army chief had alleged that he was opposed to scrapping the Tatra deal, CBI said. The audio tapes, supposed to be having a recording of the purported conversation between the former Army chief and Lt Gen Singh, were of no use as only noise was heard in them, CBI said. Attempts to retrieve any voice through forensic means did not yield any results, it said. The tapes were submitted to CBI by Gen Singh. CBI has looked into possible links between Lt Gen Singh and the Tatra owner but have not been able to establish any substantial lead, CBI said. PTI