Corruption in Indian Armed Forces: 72 officers sold their weapons for profit - Army

Armand2REP

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Perhaps, all the armed forces of every country is corrupt. That's not only the case with us.
There is corruption no matter where you go, but there are varying degrees of corruption. The US military is relatively clean, but when you cross over to their civilian contractors it is like doing business in Russia. French military is relatively clean as well, but when you cross over to the industrial suppliers, bribes fall like rain. Every single facet of the Chinese military is corrupt from the top Generals on down to the lowest conscript.
 

neo29

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Corruption in forces eh ? Almost all armed forces in the world is involved in corruption. Our Indian Armed Forces are used to kickbacks from russians over the years. No wonder they were supporting russian equipment rather than indigenous made. Most recent eg is t-90 against arjun.
China has the most corruption in every department, but no matter what sector their corruption is, they make sure the product is the best as per the need. In an interview a former Indian ambassador to China said that all govt officials are corrupt but if they have to make a road they make sure its built really good apart from taking kickbacks in it. Unlike in india where pocket matters more than nations needs.
 

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OFB scam: CBI asks Def Min to blacklist 6 firms

OFB scam: CBI asks Def Min to blacklist 6 firms

New Delhi: The CBI has asked the Defence Ministry to blacklist six firms, including four international ones, for their alleged involvement in the Ordnance Factory Board scam.

Official sources said the names of four international companies -- Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK), Israel Military Industries Ltd (IMI), Rheinmetall Air Defence (RAD), Zurich, and Cooperation Defence, Russia -- are mentioned in the letter by the CBI to the Defence Ministry.

Besides, two Indian firms -- T S Kisan and companies Pvt Ltd (New Delhi) and R K Machines Tools Ltd (Ludhiana) -- have also been named in the CBI communique to the MoD sent earlier this week, they said.

The action came after agency sleuths investigating the case found alleged involvement of these firms in the scandal.

The agency had on June 30 filed a 2,700-page chargesheet in a special CBI court, Kolkata, against former Director General of Ordnance factory Board, Sudipta Ghosh and 11 others for graft.

A case was registered by CBI on May 17, 2009 under different Sections of IPC and Prevention of the Corruption Act against Ghosh and others.

It was alleged that Ghosh had entered into criminal conspiracy with other accused with the object of demanding and obtaining huge illegal gratification in the matter of various supply orders placed by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and also in the matters relating to transfer or posting of the officers of Ordnance Factories.

Following registration of case and subsequent probe, the CBI had arrested Ghosh and others.

"During searches conducted by CBI, cash amounting to approximately Rs 1.41 crore was seized from the residences and bank lockers of the former DG and his wife. Another Rs 1.14 crore was recovered from the premises of other accused persons," CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal had said.

The chargesheet has named Ghosh and his wife Kajal Ghosh, Ramesh Nambiar, then additional GM (Sports) Air India, J K Thapar, director of T S Kishan and Companies Private Ltd, Satish Mahajan, director and Sunil Handa, manager of R K Machines Tools Ltd, Ludhiana.

Former statistical investigator of National Sample Survey Organisation, J K Grover, two private firms T S Kisan & Company Private Limited, New Delhi and R K Machines Tool Limited, Ludhiana, chairman of Mokul Group of Companies Mohinder Singh Sahni and two private persons -- Ashish Bose and Pradeep Rana -- were also named in the charge sheet.

The matter will be heard on July 31 by a Kolkata court.

According to CBI, the modus operandi of Ghosh was that he used to habitually negotiate bribes with domestic and foreign suppliers of defence equipment to the Ordnance factories through his conduit (Ashish Bose).

Three separate cases were also registered by CBI against Ghosh, Nambiar and Grover for possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

http://www.zeenews.com/news639210.html
 

prateikf

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it hardly matters whether that defence minister blacklists the above firms at all because in any case the defence procurement is going nowhere. It would be better if antony blacklists himself and his defence ministry first as they have rendered our armed forces weak and desperately short of modern equipment
 

Ray

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The IMI and the Singapore firm produce certain equipment which are competitive and meets our requirement.

Blacklisting, as in the case of Bofors, only deprives the country of the proper equipment.

The Govt must ensure that the deals are made with such procedure that there is very little chance for crooks to make a big buck and let the Nation down.
 

SHAILENDRA

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A thought about corruption in armed forces

Perhaps the Ordinance Factory shouldn't sell officers NSP weapons at reduced price, hence getting rid of the problem.
sorry, I dont agree with your views about prohibiting selling of weapons to officers, as it is expected to be used at correct situation by them, which most of them use. I still remember while one lady travelling in a train came under problem by some hooligans and how an army personnel helped her by his weapon. It should also be noted that any service where connection with local public is involved, will be corrupt. However, armed forces have saved themselves a lot but still dirty spots are there on the uniform. Philosophically there is no end to needs, even if double-triple MSP will be given. Hence a second thought is needed.

Armed forces are very respectful. Whole country looks them with respect. such news about OGs are shocking to all of us. But I still I ponder why we dont hear such high level stories about other less paid armed forces of the country.
 

Ray

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Ordnance Factory Board, Min Def bureaucrats and politicians on the Price Negotiating Committee are not Indian Armed Forces.

The title of the thread is misleading.

The OFB does not sell NSP weapons. It is bought from the Ordnance Depot after it is vetted and passed by the Ordnance Directorate at the Army HQ.
 

SHASH2K2

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CAG pokes finger at inferior steel in navy tankers


The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has criticized the acceptance of inferior-grade steel used in the manufacture of fleet tankers of the Indian Navy by Italian firm, Fincantieri, saying it amounted to 'undue favor to a foreign vendor in (the) procurement of fleet tankers'.

Not just the steel, the CAG also has a problem with the 'excess provisioning of spares worth more than INR 300 million (USD 6 million) and under realization of offset benefit to Indian industry' in the procurement worth INR 9.36 billion (USD 200 million).

The CAG's report says the original Request For Proposal (RFP) had a mandatory stipulation requiring the use of 'DMR 249A or equivalent grade steel' in the construction of two fleet tankers, which it says is 'almost double the cost of ordinary steel'.

The INS (Indian Naval Ship) Deepak (Lamp) in dry dock at Muggiano, Italy being launched last February.
The report recaps, "In order to maintain its approved force levels, Indian Navy's Ship-building Plan envisaged addition of two fleet tankers (tanker) by 2008 and 2011 respectively. Accordingly, a Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued to 12 firms in November 2005. In response to the RFP, only three firms responded, namely M/s Rosoboronexport, Russia (ROE), M/s Hyundai Heavy Industries Limited (HHIL) and M/s Fincantieri, Italy."

It says, "Out of the three firms, only ROE offered a technical proposal for using DMR 249A/ or equivalent steel. The offer of HHIL was rejected due to noncompliance with RFP provisions which included non-usage of DMR 249A steel. Fincantieri's proposal was stated to be compliant with the RFP conditions. However, the firm proposed to use DH 36 steel in place of DMR 249A steel."

INS Deepak, launched into the sea.
The justification offered by Fincantieri for selection of DH 36 grade steel to the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) of the Ministry of Defense included problems in sourcing DMR 249A steel, the normal use of ordinary steel for tankers and that high resilience performance of DMR 249A was not necessary for the ship.

"According to the firm's own admission, DH 36 grade steel has less weight and less resilience when compared to DMR 249A. The chemical compositions of DH-36 grade steel and DMR 249A steel are different and they cannot be treated as equivalent to each other. The prices of these two grades of steel are also different in as much as DMR 249 A grade is more expensive than DH-36 grade steel," says the report, adding, "Nonetheless, the TEC opined that the DH 36 steel was equivalent to DMR 249A grade steel and accepted the technical bid of Fincantieri without taking cognizance of the offer made by the other two bidders. The Technical Oversight Committee also recommended the offer of Fincantieri. Later, when the commercial bids were opened, Fincantieri emerged as L1 (lowest bid) with a quote of Rs 723 crore. The offer of ROE was rejected as it was costlier, being based upon the prices of DMR 249A / or equivalent steel."
 

RAM

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72 officers sold their weapons for profit: Army


NEW DELHI: In a shocking disclosure, the Army on Friday admitted that 72 of its officers, including a serving Colonel and three Lt Colonels, posted in sensitive border districts of Rajasthan and in the Indian Army Training Team (IMTRAT) at Bhutan were part of an illegal arms selling racket.

The admission came in a status report submitted to the SC through additional solicitor general Vivek Tankha after a PIL petitioner advocate Arvind Kumar Sharma cried himself hoarse for three years and after the Supreme Court pressed for a probe into the hair-raising racket.

Weapons procured and sold off in violation of the Army Act and Customs Act to arms dealers and private persons included both prohibited and non-prohibited bore and "a total of 72 officers and one JCO were blameworthy" in these cases, the Army said quoting a report submitted by the Court of Inquiry two years ago.

Significantly, in the affidavit submitted before a Bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar, the Army authorities put the gross violation to the ignorance of its personnel. It said that its officers posted at IMTRAT, Bhutan, wrongly felt that it was alright for them to import firearms and ammunition and sell them at a profit. "This needs to be corrected immediately," it said.

It gave the names of the Colonel and 3 Lt Cols along with the number of weapons traded by them -- Col Neeraj Rana (5 weapons of Army officers), Lt Col V S Rathore (17 weapons of Army officers including his weapon), Lt Col S S Rathore (5 weapons of Army officers including his own) and Lt Col B S Shekhawat (11 weapons of Army officers).

While clarifying that most of the weapons illegally traded off were not service ones but non-service patterns (NSPs), the Army said: "Forty-five officers and one JCO had sold their NSP weapons without taking sanction of competent authority in violation of SAO 1/S/96 and the Arms Act, 1959. Of these, 10 officers have since retired."

"Twenty-five officers who were posted at IMTRAT, Bhutan, were found to have imported ammunition in excess of their authorization," the status report said and detailed the disciplinary action taken against them.

Shockingly, of the 35 serving officers, one JCO and 10 retired officers who were asked by the authorities to deposit back their NSPs with the Central Ordnance Depot, Jabalpur, within three months, only four officers have been able to retrieve their weapons and deposit the same with COD Jabalpur and Chandigarh.

While disciplinary action was initiated against four who deposited back their weapons after retrieving them from arms dealers, the rest of the weapons appear to have been lost in circulation.

"Regarding 31 officers and a JCO who had sold their NSPs without sanction and failed to deposit them back with COD, these personnel are serving in various parts of the country. Their attachment orders have been issued by competent authority on August 31, 2010 with the instructions to report to the concerned formation headquarters and units forthwith. On arrival of these officers, disciplinary action will commence against them under the Army Act and Army Rules," the affidavit by the Army promised to the SC.

During the last hearing on the PIL filed by Sharma highlighting the dangerous consequences of such illegal transactions involving arms and ammunition, the Bench had said: "These are such serious allegations. We never expected such things to happen."

What had pained the court was the Centre's inaction to curb such incidents despite the Rajasthan government lodging 14 FIRs. The Bench on Friday also asked the state government to furnish an inquiry report prepared by inspector-general Umesh Mishra of the state Anti-Corruption Branch giving details of the transactions. The report dated July 15, 2007 would be submitted in a sealed cover.



Read more: 72 officers sold their weapons for profit: Army - The Times of India 72 officers sold their weapons for profit: Army - The Times of India





http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/72-officers-sold-their-weapons-for-profit-Army/articleshow/6622221.cms#ixzz10UVXQpLQ
 

pmaitra

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72 officers sold their weapons for profit: Army

72 officers sold their weapons for profit: Army

Times of India, Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN, Sep 25, 2010, 12.28am IST

NEW DELHI: In a shocking disclosure, the Army on Friday admitted that 72 of its officers, including a serving Colonel and three Lt Colonels, posted in sensitive border districts of Rajasthan and in the Indian Army Training Team (IMTRAT) at Bhutan were part of an illegal arms selling racket.

The admission came in a status report submitted to the SC through additional solicitor general Vivek Tankha after a PIL petitioner advocate Arvind Kumar Sharma cried himself hoarse for three years and after the Supreme Court pressed for a probe into the hair-raising racket.

Weapons procured and sold off in violation of the Army Act and Customs Act to arms dealers and private persons included both prohibited and non-prohibited bore and "a total of 72 officers and one JCO were blameworthy" in these cases, the Army said quoting a report submitted by the Court of Inquiry two years ago.

Significantly, in the affidavit submitted before a Bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar, the Army authorities put the gross violation to the ignorance of its personnel. It said that its officers posted at IMTRAT, Bhutan, wrongly felt that it was alright for them to import firearms and ammunition and sell them at a profit. "This needs to be corrected immediately," it said.

It gave the names of the Colonel and 3 Lt Cols along with the number of weapons traded by them -- Col Neeraj Rana (5 weapons of Army officers), Lt Col V S Rathore (17 weapons of Army officers including his weapon), Lt Col S S Rathore (5 weapons of Army officers including his own) and Lt Col B S Shekhawat (11 weapons of Army officers).

While clarifying that most of the weapons illegally traded off were not service ones but non-service patterns (NSPs), the Army said: "Forty-five officers and one JCO had sold their NSP weapons without taking sanction of competent authority in violation of SAO 1/S/96 and the Arms Act, 1959. Of these, 10 officers have since retired."

"Twenty-five officers who were posted at IMTRAT, Bhutan, were found to have imported ammunition in excess of their authorization," the status report said and detailed the disciplinary action taken against them.

Shockingly, of the 35 serving officers, one JCO and 10 retired officers who were asked by the authorities to deposit back their NSPs with the Central Ordnance Depot, Jabalpur, within three months, only four officers have been able to retrieve their weapons and deposit the same with COD Jabalpur and Chandigarh.

While disciplinary action was initiated against four who deposited back their weapons after retrieving them from arms dealers, the rest of the weapons appear to have been lost in circulation.

"Regarding 31 officers and a JCO who had sold their NSPs without sanction and failed to deposit them back with COD, these personnel are serving in various parts of the country. Their attachment orders have been issued by competent authority on August 31, 2010 with the instructions to report to the concerned formation headquarters and units forthwith. On arrival of these officers, disciplinary action will commence against them under the Army Act and Army Rules," the affidavit by the Army promised to the SC.

During the last hearing on the PIL filed by Sharma highlighting the dangerous consequences of such illegal transactions involving arms and ammunition, the Bench had said: "These are such serious allegations. We never expected such things to happen."

What had pained the court was the Centre's inaction to curb such incidents despite the Rajasthan government lodging 14 FIRs. The Bench on Friday also asked the state government to furnish an inquiry report prepared by inspector-general Umesh Mishra of the state Anti-Corruption Branch giving details of the transactions. The report dated July 15, 2007 would be submitted in a sealed cover.

Read more: 72 officers sold their weapons for profit: Army - The Times of India 72 officers sold their weapons for profit: Army - The Times of India
 

ajtr

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all 72's must be court martialed immediately.
 

badguy2000

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guys,now you should know where Indian Maoists get their weapons ....haha!
 

pankaj nema

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Don t laugh you bad guy.There is corruption in your country too. AND even in rich western countries.

AND we know China is giving money and weapons to the Maoists.
 

Rahul92

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agreed with PN but first we should implicate strict measures on those 72
 

badguy2000

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Don t laugh you bad guy.There is corruption in your country too. AND even in rich western countries.

AND we know China is giving money and weapons to the Maoists.

well, corruption is also ramp in CHina too...but it can not not be imagined in China that weapons of arm force can be sold by army officers....
 

sandeepdg

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well, corruption is also ramp in CHina too...but it can not not be imagined in China that weapons of arm force can be sold by army officers....
Well, even if something like this did happen in PLA , how the hell would you know anyway ?? Such news relating to controversial subjects never get out even in case of civil and political issues in China, let alone defense forces !! Chinese generals and senior officers swindle huge amounts of money from the numerous military industrial complexes run by the PLA. Every year, numerous personnel of the armed forces are tried on anti-corruption charges, there are even reports of the of the local army units helping in the running of a brothel in one city !! What a shame ! :emot15:

CHINESE MILITARY - China | Facts and Details
 

badguy2000

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Well, even if something like this did happen in PLA , how the hell would you know anyway ?? Such news relating to controversial subjects never get out even in case of civil and political issues in China, let alone defense forces !! Chinese generals and senior officers swindle huge amounts of money from the numerous military industrial complexes run by the PLA. Every year, numerous personnel of the armed forces are tried on anti-corruption charges, there are even reports of the of the local army units helping in the running of a brothel in one city !! What a shame ! :emot15:

CHINESE MILITARY - China | Facts and Details
1.PLA doesn't own any "military complex" now. CHinese "miliatry complex" is owned by State Commission of Science and Technology for National Defense Industry
 

sandeepdg

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1.PLA doesn't own any "military complex" now. CHinese "miliatry complex" is owned by State Commission of Science and Technology for National Defense Industry
Oh yeah, well SASTIND coordinates with the GAD(General Armaments Department), which is a new department of the PLA to supply military equipment to the PLA. So, technically the production lines are still controlled by the PLA, which means the officers continue to find avenues to swindle money !!

Commission of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND)
 

RAM

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CBI nabs naval commander in paper leak case

Mumbai, Oct 6 (IANS) A senior Indian Navy officer has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the leak of a defence examination paper, an official said here Wednesday.
Commander Ramesh Chand Saini, who is posted at the INS Angre headquarters of the Western Naval Command, was picked up from his residence Tuesday evening and presented before a CBI Special Court.

Special Judge N.P. Dhote has remanded Saini to custody till Oct 13.

The CBI said that Saini, along with another accused, Ram Chandra Naik, who was a member of the examination board, went to Pune for printing the question papers from Atharva Consultancy and Allied Services between Sep 16 and Sep 18.

They also stayed in Hotel Kohinoor at the expense of Vikas Thakur of Atharva Consultancy & Allied Services and managed to copy the question papers in a pen-drive.

Naik took the pen-drive and handed it to another accused, Rambir Singh Rawat, in Navi Mumbai the following day, Sep 19.

Later, the CBI learnt that Saini had also given a hard copy of the question paper to Naik and the investigators recovered it in a damaged condition from his residence.

On Sep 26, the CBI had busted a gang of four, including two administrative officers of the Western and Eastern Naval Commands, for allegedly leaking the confidential question papers of the lower division clerk examinations to over 130 candidates.

They are - R.C. Naik, administrative officer of Western Naval Command, D.S. Murthi, administrative officer of Eastern Naval Command, Rambhir Singh Rawat, an ex-sailor who owns Manasa International Defence recruitment agency in Vishakapatnam and Hoshiyar Singh, a teacher from Hyderabad.


After getting the question paper, Rawat and Hoshiyar brought 134 candidates from Vishakapatnam to United Lodge in South Mumbai and gave practical training on how to tackle it.After the scam was unearthed by the CBI, the printing press owner B.S. Thakur died of a heart attack earlier this week when CBI officials went to interrogate him.

CBI nabs naval commander in paper leak case
 

RAM

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Sand passed off as RDX in Jammu?

NEW DELHI/JAMMU: Barely four months after an Army colonel and six others were chargesheeted for carrying out fake encounters in Jammu and Kashmir, Military Intelligence officials are now accused of playing along with an ex-Army personnel in planting sand and passing it off as RDX explosives to earn cash rewards.

The alleged involvement of Army officials from the Northern and Western Commands emerged when police recovered a consignment of apple boxes near the MLAs' hostel in Jammu on October 8. A cavity had been created to store some black material which was being passed off as explosives. The boxes had detonators attached, further triggering panic.

After detailed forensic analysis, however, the "explosive material" turned out to be sand which was attached to wires and detonators brought from stone quarries -- ending in what closely resembled an improvised explosive device (IED), sources in the Union home ministry said, quoting interrogation of three of the accused arrested by the police.

The accused -- ex-serviceman Ram Krishen and special police officers Mehboob Dar and Mohammed Rafi -- were picked up after a stone quarry dealer cracked during questioning and told police that he had supplied detonators to Dar on earlier occasions too, the sources said.

Dar's arrest revealed that the sand "cache" was planted in connivance with some Army officials in return for money; he also claimed that the "rate" for planting fake explosives in Jammu was Rs 60,000. Dar and Rafi have been suspended since.

Northern Command spokesperson J S Brar refused comment, merely stating that the area was under Western Command. The Brigadier General Staff of Western Command did not respond to text messages.

The fresh controversy comes four months after three youths were gunned down allegedly in cold blood by some Army officers in Machil sector of north Kashmir. The state police had filed a chargesheet against an army colonel, two majors and six soldiers in that incident.

The arrest of former Armyman Ram Krishen has raised eyebrows among central security agencies as he has been instrumental in recovery of explosives for the Northern Command in the past too. During the probe carried out discreetly, it was found that all such explosives were shown as "destroyed insitu" (on spot).

Read more: Sand passed off as RDX in Jammu? - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...n-Jammu/articleshow/6765958.cms#ixzz12eWb3fh5
 

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