New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Anil Kumar, a senior executive director at the state-owned Munitions India Limited (MIL), and Ashish Kansal, the chief executive officer and a director of the private defence manufacturer SMPP Limited. The agency accuses them of bribery and the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive defence production information. Kumar’s brother, Harshvardhan, has also been taken into custody.
According to the first information report (FIR) registered by the agency, the CBI received information that Kumar, acting with certain private contractors and vendors, was demanding and accepting bribes. The payments were allegedly made in return for “official favours” and for disclosing sensitive information about defence production, procurement and other strategically important activities of MIL.
The contract at the centre of the case
The FIR names Kansal, who is also a promoter of SMPP, as having been in regular contact with Kumar over a ₹500 crore contract awarded to the company to supply ammunition to MIL over one year. It also names Ravit Kumar Tewatia, an SMPP employee, as having been in touch with Kumar as part of the alleged conspiracy. The reports reviewed do not say whether Tewatia has been arrested.
The CBI described such disclosures as having the potential to compromise the country’s strategic and security interests, weaken the integrity of defence-related processes, and pose serious risks to national security and public safety. It said the information, on its face, pointed to a nexus between a public servant in a sensitive position at a strategically important defence production organization and private contractors seeking access to restricted information and favourable treatment.
How the money was allegedly routed
The agency has also accused Kumar of routing and parking a substantial share of the illicit proceeds through relatives, including his wife, Chetnashri, and his brother. The FIR says the two helped conceal and retain the money and so abetted the offence.
The CBI said it had received information that Kumar was due to receive a substantial payment from Kansal on October 12. According to the FIR, Kumar then instructed his brother to travel to Pune the following morning, collect the proceeds and keep them safe and hidden. MIL is headquartered in Pune.
Background
MIL was set up in 2021 when the Ordnance Factory Board was corporatized and split into seven defence public sector undertakings. It makes ammunition, explosives, rockets and bombs for the armed forces, for export and for civilian use.
SMPP, which has been in defence manufacturing for more than three decades, is known for ballistic protection equipment. It has recently moved into ammunition and drones. The company has described Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh as the base of its ammunition manufacturing. Trade reports also link it to a partnership with the French-German group KNDS on loitering and precision-guided munitions, and to the delivery of drones to the Army.
The case follows an earlier, unrelated CBI action in which an Army colonel was arrested for allegedly manipulating tenders to favour a Kanpur-based defence supplier in return for a ₹50 lakh bribe.
