Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: In yet another trouble for Ravi Rishi, chairman of the London-based Vectra Group, the government on Friday cancelled the security clearance given to his aviation firm Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd.
Rishi’s firm Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd operates helicopter services at the Vaishno Devi shrine and during the Amarnath Yatra.
With over 50 helicopters, Rishi is the largest such operator in the country, with politicians and VVIPs frequently using his choppers during election campaigns.
The cancellation of security clearance of Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd is likely to create trouble for those willing to avail chopper services during the pilgrimage to the Vaishno Devi shrine since it is the peak season.
The officials of Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd have refused to confirm the development, saying that they have not received any communication in this regard.
A 1977 batch alumnus of IIT Delhi, Rishi landed in trouble after Army Chief Gen VK Singh made the startling revelation that he was offered a Rs 14 crore bribe to clear a purchase order of 600 trucks manufactured by a joint venture company in which he had a controlling stake.
Although the truck maker's name was not officially disclosed, it was speculated to be Tatra- a Czech vehicle manufacturer.
Rishi, now a British citizen, started Vectra in 1986 after he moved to London, but the company really came into its own around 1992, when it snapped up several factories in the erstwhile Czechoslovakia, including Tatra.
Rishi did not buy a majority share in Tatra, but created a joint venture called Tatra Vectra Motors Ltd, which thereafter entered into a joint venture with Bharat Earth Movers Ltd, now simply called BEML, a Defence Public Sector Unit (DPSU), to make heavy vehicles for the Indian armed forces.
Ravi Rishi is currently under scanner and faces a high-level probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation in view of the bribery allegations made by the Army Chief.
First Published: Friday, May 04, 2012, 12:22