Tatra Controversy: CBI Issues Restraint Order Against Accused Rishi

New DelhiI: The Central Bureau of Investigation has issued a restraint order to prevent NRI businessman Ravi Rishi, chairman of the UK-based $800-million Vectra Group, from moving out of the country.

The businessman had arrived in New Delhi for the Defence Expo at a time when accusations were made by Army chief VK Singh of irregularities in Army's purchase of Tatra trucks, manufactured by BEML, which has a tie-up with Rishi's firm.

CBI has alerted all airports and exit points to ensure that he does not leave the country, according to PTI. 57-year-old Rishi has been questioned twice by CBI. Rishi has termed the allegations against him as unfortunate, saying the trucks were sold through public sector undertaking Bharat Earth Movers Limited. He also said the charges levelled with regard to Tatra trucks by Gen VK Singh were baseless.

The move comes after the Army chief alleged Lt Gen (retired) Tejinder Singh had offered him a bribe for clearing a consignment of 'sub-standard' trucks. Lt Gen Singh has refuted the allegations and has filed a defamation case against the Army chief and some other senior officers.

CBI officials will be seeking more details from the Army chief before they decide on whether to register a preliminary enquiry or a case in connection with the bribery charge.

The Army has used Tatra trucks for nearly 26 years, of which for the past 19 years the company has been under Rishi's ownership. General Singh's allegation was that a batch of 600 odd trucks were 'substandard'. He alleged he was offered 14 crore, apparently to sanction the purchase of 600 Tatra high-mobility vehicles from BEML.

"Previous chiefs of Army staff [such as] JJ Singh and Shankar Roy Chowdhury had great things to say about Tatra trucks. JJ Singh had compared the Tatra to Mercedes. Chaudhary was mightily impressed when he came to Slovakia to visit a Tatra factory," Rishi had told ET in a recent interview.

"This chief has some ulterior motive," he alleged, adding he had never known Lt Gen Tejinder Singh, former director-general of India's Defence Intelligence Agency, whose name was doing the rounds as the person who had tried to bribe VK Singh on behalf of Tatra.

"We work only with BEML in India," said Rishi, who studied electrical engineering at IIT Delhi. Born to JC Rishi, a contractor, Ravi Rishi always wanted to be a businessman. Rishi made his first million by selling electrical goods and consumer electronics products.

"Most of my exports - TV, camera, flash bulbs, etc - were to East Europe. I was known since then as a trader to East Europe," he said. Three years later, he shifted base to Singapore. According to Rishi, his business grew manifold in the next five years.

In 1985, he relocated to London. A year later, he set up the Vectra Group which has presence in defence, aviation, IT, real estate and construction sectors.

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Rishi started picking up business assets from Czechoslovakia "We acquired 17 factories in 1991-92 alone. Czechoslovakia was well-known for automotive engineering units. So we picked up factories making bearings, woodworking, cranes," he said.