New Delhi (dpa) – India's army chief alleged he was offered a bribe of 27 million dollars by a defense equipment lobbyist, charges which sparked an uproar in Parliament Monday. General VK Singh told the Hindu newspaper that the lobbyist had offered the bribe to make him clear the purchase of 600 “substandard vehicles of a particular make.” Singh said in the interview that the army had 7,000 of such vehicles and many had been sold at “exorbitant prices with no questions asked.” “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 140 million rupees,” the general was quoted as saying. “He was offering a bribe to me, the army chief.” Opposition lawmakers staged protests and stalled parliamentary proceedings, demanding an immediate explanation from the government. “It is a serious allegation,” Defense Minister AK Antony said as local media reported that the government had ordered an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the issue. Singh did not specify the vehicle or name the lobbyist. The army chief's charges are the latest controversy to hit Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's scandal-tainted government. It has faced flak over alleged involvement by some of its members in high-profile graft cases as well as its alleged inability to curb corruption. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/Vv9sb Tags: Bribe, Controversy, India, Military, VK Singh Section: Latest News, South Asia
