The central bureau of investigation may question Lt General (retired) Tejinder Singh earlier next week. Army chief General VK Singh had on Tuesday filed a detailed complaint with the federal investigation agency that the retired lieutenant general had offered him Rs 14 crore as bribe to clear a tranche of substandard vehicles for the army. However, Tejinder Singh has denied the allegations and filed a defamation case in a Delhi court against the army chief and others.

According to a CBI official, the agency has named Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh and Vectra chief Ravi Rishi in its preliminary inquiry. London-based NRI Ravi Rishi has already been interrogated by the CBI in connection with Tatra truck scam probe.

A preliminary enquiry is made before registering an FIR but during this initial probe the agency does not have power to question, search or arrest a suspect. The CBI might convert the preliminary inquiry into an FIR if it finds prima-facie evidence of any alleged wrongdoing.

After the army chief had claimed in a newspaper interview that an equipment lobbyist had offered him a bribe of Rs 14 crore, a matter he had reported to Antony, the defence ministry had recommended a CBI probe into the allegation made by the General.

In the initial communication to the CBI, the army chief had said that there was a bribe offer from Tejinder Singh, following which the CBI had asked him to submit detailed description of the incident, list of possible witnesses and supporting documents on the issue.

According to the highly-placed sources in the investigating agency, around 5,000 trucks were supplied to the Indian army, in which Rs 3-5 lakh were given as bribe on every truck.