The Comptroller and Audit General (CAG) authority has cracked open an order scam featuring unwarranted purchase of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) worth Rs. 450 crore from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). CAG unearthed that this scam when these alleged UAVs were found lying as junk with all the Hyderabad-based National Technical Research Organization (NTRO), the technical arm of the external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
In the first-ever audit from a intelligence agency in India, the CAG uncovered that the alleged UAVs furnished by the Israeli vendors had become non-functional and were unaccounted. In 2007, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had approved Rs. 300 crore valuation on purchase of UAVs, but NTRO overstepped the policies and australian Aviation magazine ordered additional buying Rs. 150 crore valuation on satellite links and electronic intelligence link in the Israeli vendor, without consenting with all the CSS, when only payments as high as Rs. 20 crore are allowed to the NTRO top brass. CAG, in their probe, found that this satellite link purchased had not been utilized for that dedicated transmission; correctly was an empty and highly unsafe mode of transmission from where anyone could download the sensitive data sent from UAVs. The usage of these UAVs, CAG reports, was susceptibly called off due to absence of a safe and secure, dedicated satellite link and also the UAVs were cast out. The CAG has referred to as the fault in the NTRO officials for starting the unwarranted purchase and blindly following the Israeli vendor’s word how the 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 around the task of probing in to the matter, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sanctioned an inquiry in to the same, taking into consideration the tip-off was too responsive to 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 already indicted within the CAG report.
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