New Delhi: Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) AS Gill says he is aware of the allegations that substandard bulletproof jackets have been cleared to be used by his force.
"The entire matter is under investigation," Gill said when asked about a CNN-IBN report that the rules were bent by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) while testing bulletproof jackets for use by CRPF personnel.
"We are looking into all three questions raised by CNN-IBN. We have asked Technical Evaluation Committee to look into this. After the report we will take action against people guilty," added Gill.
Gill also heads the tender appraisal committee of the CRPF.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has also ordered an investigation into the alleged case of faulty bulletproof jackets.
But Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development Prasoon Mukharjee, who heads the Technical Evaluation Committee, is ducking questions.
"The CRPF jackets matter is under investigation. I'm not the competent authority to comment," was all Mukharjee said.
The faulty and substandard bulletproof jackets have reportedly put thousands of CRPF personnel in danger.
The substandard jackets were cleared to be used by the force which in involved in counter-insurgency and anti-Naxal operations in many parts of the country.
Documents exclusively with CNN-IBN detail the testing process of all the eight bidders.
Violation No. 1
Two different samples of jackets were tested for live firing at the same time - 1305 hrs IST to 1320 hrs IST and 1312 hrs IST to 1318 hrs IST but the DRDO lab is a single bench test firing range, two samples just cannot be tested at the same time. How did the second test start before the first one finished?
This months after the Ram Pradhan Committee report indicted the Maharashtra government for the use of poor quality bullet proof jackets during 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Violation No. 2
As per the rule or standard operating procedure –‘wet jackets' have to be fired at within 10 minutes of soaking but the document clearly reveals how a sample was fired at after 17 minutes and rejected. Ironically, other bidders did adhere to this guideline and passed the trial.
Violation No. 3
If a jacket is perforated during a test shot, testing must end and the sample stands rejected. But the report shows how shot number 4 from an AK-47 pierced the jacket and yet more shots were fired at the sample. In another case, when an MP5 bullet pierced a sample jacket, the shot was declared "unfair", to allow testing to continue.
Even the declaration is a whiteout job endorsed only by RK Verma, one of the seven members on technical evaluation committee and the man who fired the shot.
Interestingly, of the 376 shots fired during the trials, this was the only shot declared unfair.
Jackets belonging to this vendor were approved in the technical bidding making it eligible for the financial bid.
CNN-IBN also found that lab test reports don't have the signatures of five out of seven members on the technical evaluation committee. Ironically, the Union Home Ministry in an internal note has conceded it has received several complaints about these trials.
At least three complaints are currently being examined. An alleged audio recording which indicts a technical evaluation committee member is also being examined.
When CNN-IBN contacted Verma, who has been named in the complaints to the Ministry, he denied any wrongdoing but refused to come on camera and said that the Bureau of Police Research and Development were answerable.
Top level sources say that a worried Home Ministry has now halted the price bid for this tender.
The chairman of the technical evaluation committee will also be asked to explain. The Director General of CRPF will be consulted and DRDO will be hauled up and the ballistic trials will be held again if the Ministry is convinced that they were manipulated.
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