CBI finds fake Chinese parts in Indian Army’s Dhanush gun

                                                  Picture Ministry of Defense(MOD)

Bearing the brunt

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a case of criminal conspiracy and cheating against Delhi based company, for selling made-in-china parts camouflaged as ‘Made in Germany’ to Jabalpur’s ordnance factory.

An FIR alleged that the accused supplied fake and cheap spare parts (bearings) used in the manufacture of Dhanush guns.

It’s all duplicate

The FIR said unknown officials of Guns Carriage Factory (GCF), Jabalpur, accepted the Chinese manufactured ‘Wire Race Roller Bearings’ supplied by Sidh Sales Syndicate which were embossed as ‘CRB-Made in Germany’.

Artillery mistake

A tender was floated for the procurement of four such bearings according to the Rothe Erde drawing for 155 mm gun in which four firms had participated. The order was given to Sidh Sales Syndicate at the value of Rs 35.38 lakh in 2013.

The order was further increased to six bearings at the cost of Rs 53.07 lakh on August 27, 2014.

The company supplied two bearings each on three occasions between April 7, 2014 and August 12, 2014.

How CBI cracked it

GCF tests showed that the bearings were unacceptable due to deviations in dimensions.

The accused company authorised certificates showing that the products were procured from CRB Antriebstechnik, Germany. Information received by the CBI showed that the German company does not manufacture these parts.

Apparently Sidh Sales Syndicate got the six bearings manufactured by Sino United Industries (Luyang) Ltd Henan, China.

The CBI also seized several emails which were exchanged between China and Sidh Sales Syndicate. The letter from Germany shown by the company was also on a forged letterhead.

One big misfire

Sidh Sales Syndicate provided clarifications and assured that in case of non performance of the bearing due to manufacturing defects, they would replace the bearing free of cost and take corrective action for future supply.

The Dhanush gun

Dhanush is the indigenised version of the Bofors artillery guns which performed exceedingly well during the Kargil conflict in 1999. CBI said production and performance of the Dhanush gun is extremely crucial for India’s defence preparedness and “wire race roller bearing” is its vital component.

IndiaTimes

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