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Rezaul H Laskar in New Delhi
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday raided the houses of some retired Indian Air Force officers in the capital.
The raids were carried out in connection with alleged irregularities in store purchases, official sources said. Some arrests have been made, they added.
Sources in the defence ministry said an air vice marshal was the senior most among the retired officers arrested following the raids.
"At least five or six retired officers are involved. Most are middle-rung officers," the sources said.
Most of them had served in the IAF logistics wing, which is responsible for purchase and maintenance of stores.
The irregularities were detected following an internal investigation a few months ago.
"When it was found that some of the people involved were retired officers, who could not be prosecuted under the Air Force law, the IAF decided to rope in the CBI," a source said.
The simultaneous raids carried out by at least 10 teams created a flutter in the defence ministry.
The action comes four months after a sting operation of tehelka.com exposed corruption in arms deals. The scandal forced defence minister George Fernandes to quit.
Some senior defence ministry officials were suspended and the Indian Army decided to court martial top officers, including two major generals, for accepting bribes.
Indo-Asian News Service
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