CBI raids Odisha firm for defrauding Army of crores

Reported by Santosh Jagdev
Bhubaneswar, Oct 4:

On the directions of its headquarters office in New Delhi, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday raided the official and residential premises of Bharatiya Electronic Limited (BEL), a firm that supplies electronic gadgets based in Odisha’s capital city, on charges of defrauding the Indian  Army of crores in association with three other companies having all-India operations.

CBI sources said that agency officials raided the offices of other three companies – Atric Solutions Private Limited, Gaurav Services London and Exident Solutions Private limited.

These four electronic companies with operations across the country, which had reportedly signed a Rs 237 crore contract with Indian Army to provide WiFi dongles, had duped the Army of Rs 54 crores in the process.

CBI officials raided four places in Odisha, including the offices and residences of officials BEL in Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur. They also conducted search operations at offices of other companies at six locations across country, including New Delhi and Ghaziabad, CBI sources said.

A CBI official said that the four companies reportedly supplied low quality dongles to the army officials and swindled funds to the tune of several crores. The agency took cognizance of it in 2012 after which cases were registered against the firms.

“We are investigating the matter and will take action accordingly,” CBI sources added.