U-turn: State to buy bomb suits it had trashed earlier

Rs 6.2 crore to the firm.

However,when the firm supplied the suits,the government refused to accept them,saying the quality was not up to the mark. After the company moved Bombay High Court,an affidavit filed by former principal secretary (home) P K Jain claimed Techno Trade acquired 36 bomb suits from South Africa and the remaining from China. It was alleged that bomb suits imported from China were cheaper and of a low quality as compared to those imported from South Africa.

In September 2010,the Bombay High Court agreed with state govt affidavit and asked Techno Trade director Bimal Agarwal if he wanted to withdraw case or wanted the court to dismiss it. The court observed that it could not direct the state to accept the suits if it was not satisfied about the quality. Agarwal subsequently withdrew the case.

Home Minister R R Patil said,“We have paid the money in advance to the firm. So we will take bomb suits from the firm,provided the product is of the quality we want. If the quality of suits is not found up to the mark,we will recover the money paid. The deal was delayed due to the court case.”

Interestingly,a few months before,Patil had told The Indian Express that the state does not have a laboratory to check the quality of equipment like bomb suits. “We will be approaching the Central government for purchasing properly checked bomb suits.”

Agarwal said he has been writing to the government over the last eight months to accept the consignment of 82 bomb suits. “Finally,two weeks ago,I got a letter from the government that it is ready to inspect the suits.”

“The bomb suit company has a manufacturing unit in China as well,and hence some of the suits in the consignment are made in China. There is no problem with the quality of these suits. So I will be offering the same again. There is no facility in India to test the bomb suits and it will have to be done in South Africa,UK or the US. The government can get the suits tested,but I will not bear the expenses for testing,” said Agarwal.

When contacted,Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umeshchandra Sarangi refused to comment on whether the bomb suits by Techno Trade would be tested. He,however,confirmed that the suits would be procured from same firm as the case is over.

After 26/11 terror attack,many states in India purchased bomb suits to upgrade their police forces. But in Maharashtra,all the six tenders floated by police were either scrapped or got stuck in controversies. After the deal with Techno Trade was stuck,a tender for 77 bomb suits was floated in in August 2009,but was scrapped. The latest tender this January for 11 suits was also scrapped in March.

Sources said the tenders were scrapped due to the involvement of middlemen who have a nexus with police officers,government officails and politicians.

Meanwhile,the BDDS units across the state continue to work with outdated bomb suits that may not be of use while diffusing powerful bombs. DGP Ajit Parasnis said,“Attempts are on to find a way out to get the bomb suits for our BDDS units as early as possible.”