Four months after Defence Minister A K Antony gave sanction for the first CBI probe into BEML, Government has widened the scope of investigations into the bribery charges against the state-owned BEML's suspended CMD V R S Natarajan.
The Public Sector Enterprise Board (PSEB) has also initiated the process of finding a new Chairman and Managing Director for the Bangalore-based PSU to replace Natarajan, who was at the helm of affairs for 12 years.
Natarajan was suspended last week after the CBI, which is going into several cases, including the allegations of bribery in the Tatra truck deal, had suggested such a course of action to ensure a fair probe.
The Government was keen on taking action against anyone involved in these shady deals-- be it Directors of the company, officials, 'insiders and outsiders', army personnel and even politicians, sources said.
They clarified that the probe was not just about the bribes in the Tatra deals but various other cases of alleged wrongdoings.
The issue had come to fore after former Army Chief Gen V K Singh alleged that he was offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore by a retired officer to clear a deal for procuring 600 Tatra trucks for the army.
Soon after the charges were levelled, Defence Minister A K Antony ordered a CBI probe to investigate them in March. But even before that, the Minister had ordered a CBI probe in February against the PSU after receiving complaints from Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. |