Army Chief bribe probe: Does the rabbit hole lead to Ravi Rishi?

As the CBI start taking steps towards investigating the alleged bribe offered to the Army chief General VK Singh,  an uncomfortable spotlight has been put on the original deal in 1986  by the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government to import Tatra trucks for the Indian Army. Ravi Rishi, a NRI businessman, who owns the Vectra group had picked up a stake in the Czech manufacturers of Tatra trucks as the Cold War was drawing to a close. He later cemented his position in the firm with the Vectra group acquiring a majority stake in the firm. [caption id=“attachment_259451” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The Tatra all-weather truck has been used in the Indian Army extensively. Reuters”]  [/caption] The industrialist had said in an interview that it was his calculated risk to invest in Eastern European markets in factories like Tatra which had paid off. Rishi, an IIT electrical engineering graduate from New Delhi, had reportedly steered the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1986 towards the Tatra’s all-weather trucks.  Indian public sector firm, BEML, was to manufacture the trucks in India as part of the indigenisation process and till date around 7,000 trucks have been manufactured. General VK Singh had reportedly raised doubts on both the quality and price being paid for the Tatra trucks and was inclined to doing away with a contract for the trucks signed by his predecessor. Indian defence ministry officials had said they had not received any complaints about the truck and Congress leaders have expressed concerns over the extent of the CBI probe into the matter and whether it would inquire into how the Congress government in 1986, in which Rajiv Gandhi was defence minister, also  approved of the Tatra trucks. The ruling party is reportedly keen to ensure that the scope of the probe does not extend beyond the bribe being offered to the Army chief. The Vectra Group, apart from selling Tatra trucks to the Indian Army, also operates helicopter services and had reportedly attempted to push Eurocopter’s light utility helicopters for the defence force. A deal in 2007 had to be done away with after questions were raised about the procurement procedure and the Central Vigilance Commission supported the quashing of the agreement. Rishi has been combative on the issue and alleged that it is General VK Singh had ulterior motives or personal interests at stake for attempting to stall a deal that was already signed. “When he was in Kolkata I believe he was a great friend of the Ural trucks, in fact he tried Ural trucks with the Indian Army even without even having permission, and not following procedures. So he was doing this also, he was doing this at the behest of the Ural trucks,” he told Times Now.