CAG Digs up Rs. 450- Crore Scam by RAW
The Comptroller and Audit General (CAG) authority has cracked open a purchase order scam featuring unwarranted purchase of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) worth Rs. 450 crore from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). CAG unearthed how the scam when these alleged UAVs were found lying as junk with all the Hyderabad-based National Technical Research Organization (NTRO), the technical arm in the external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
In the first-ever audit of any intelligence agency in India, Military aviation magazine the CAG uncovered the alleged UAVs provided by the Israeli vendors had become non-functional and were unaccounted. In 2007, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had approved Rs. 300 crore worth of acquiring UAVs, but NTRO overstepped the rules and ordered additional buying Rs. 150 crore valuation on satellite links and electronic intelligence link from your Israeli vendor, without consenting while using CSS, when only payments as high as Rs. 20 crore are permitted the NTRO top brass. CAG, in the probe, found that this satellite link purchased wasn’t utilized for the dedicated transmission; because of it was an open and highly unsafe mode of transmission from which anyone could download the sensitive data sent from UAVs. The usage of these UAVs, CAG reports, was susceptibly called off due to the deficiency of a secure, dedicated satellite link and also the UAVs were cast out. The CAG has referred to as fault in the NTRO officials for participating in the unwarranted purchase and blindly following Israeli vendor’s word that this satellite link had been successfully tested in Australia before it was signed off.
Following a tip-off coming from a whistle blower, the CAG took for the task of probing into the matter, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sanctioned an inquiry in the same, considering the tip-off was too understanding of be ignored. CAG has questioned top officials, including some senior finance officials and major generals, while ex-NTRO chairman K.V.S.S. Prasad Rao, and current advisor M S Vijayaraghavan, are actually indicted within the CAG report.