Army chief fires another letter salvo Forwards TMC MP Missive To CBI For Probe On Lt Gen Suhag

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will seek the defence ministry's nod to probe Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, who is alleged to have been involved in corruption as the head of the Special Frontier Force (SFF), officials said here on Thursday. CBI sources also said "we have asked Cabinet the secretariat to give details of probe, if conducted" in the matter. 

    The CBI is examining a letter written by Trinamool MP Ambica Banerjee, alleging corruption by Lt Gen Suhag in procurements for the SFF, officials said. The MP's written complaint was forwarded to the CBI by army chief Gen V K Singh, along with a covering letter, seeking a probe into the allegations. 

    Banerjee's allegations, made last May, pertain to the period when Lt Gen Suhag was the SFF's inspector general. He currently commands the Dimapur-based 3 Corps and is in line, after Lt Gen Bikram Singh, to be the army chief. 

    Banerjee has alleged that kickbacks were paid in the deals relating to supply of crucial equipment for SFF, ranging from night vision devices and communication systems to parachutes, sources said. The MP has named a number of senior army officers who have allegedly received kickbacks in these deals, they claimed. CBI sources said the agency will also write to the MoD as the matter relates to procurements for SFF, a secret force working with the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), India's external intelligence agency that falls under the Cabinet secretariat. SFF is also known as 'Establishment-22' and was raised after 1962. 

    Meanwhile, CBI officials on Thursday said they have been unsuccessfully trying to contact Gen V K Singh for the past 2-3 days. The agency is likely to talk to Gen Singh about Banerjee's letter on Friday, when it takes a formal complaint from him on the Rs 14 crore bribery allegations in the Tatra truck purchase. Sources told TOI it will register a case by this weekend after taking a formal complaint from Gen Singh.

The CBI may now probe Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag after the army chief forwarded Trinamool MP Ambica Banerjee's letter alleging that the Lt Gen, as the head of the Special Frontier Force, was involved in a procurement scam