The Vectra Group, under the scanner following Army Chief Gen. V.K. Singh’s disclosure that a huge bribe was offered to him for clearing the purchase of “substandard” vehicles, is promoted by Ravi Rishi, who left India over a quarter-century back, after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence registered a case against his company, Rishi Electronics, in 1983 under the draconian Cofeposa law.
Mr Rishi, who later acquired British citizenship, set up businesses in several countries. He is alleged to have got a lot of help from a 1979 batch IFS officer with over three dozen vigilance cases against him.
After the Soviet collapse and Czechoslovakia’s breakup, Mr Rishi’s Vectra Group acquired a majority stake in Tatra, based in the Czech Republic, which has operations in India and Eastern Europe.