India Govt orders probe into allegation of bribe by Army chief

New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) The Indian government today ordered an inquiry into the allegation made by Army chief Gen V K Singh that he was offered a Rupees 140 million (about USD 2.8 million) bribe by a lobbyist. A probe by the country's top investigating body Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was ordered by Defence Minister A K Antony in the wake of the Army chief's allegation, Defence Ministry officials told PTI here. Terming Gen Singh's allegations as "serious", Antony told reporters outside Parliament, "We have to handle it .... I have taken action." In an interview to a newspaper, the Army chief alleged that an equipment lobbyist offered him a bribe of Rs 14 crore, which he had reported to the Defence Minister. He said the lobbyist offered him the bribe in order to have a tranche of 600 sub-standard vehicles of a particular make cleared for purchase. "Just imagine, one of these men had the gumption to walk up to me and tell me that if I cleared the tranche, he would give me Rs 14 crore. He was offering a bribe to me, to the Army chief. He told me that people had taken money before me and they will take money after me," Gen Singh said. Reacting to the allegation leveled by Gen Singh, opposition BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said, "Both the Defence Minister and the Army chief should have acted immediately. "It is a criminal act and nobody should be allowed to go scot free after offering a bribe," he told reporters outside Parliament. PTI