New Delhi, Jun 18 (IANS): Alleging corruption in the proposed purchase of 1,000 low-floor buses by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), the BJP on Thursday demanded a CBI probe into the matter.

Addressing a press conference here, former Delhi BJP chief and MLA Vijender Gupta termed Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot's claim that the work order for the DTC buses was kept in abeyance after a committee was constituted by the Lieutenant Governor to look into the matter as a blatant lie.

"The order to put bus procurement on hold was taken on June 11, while the L-G's fact-finding committee was formed on June 16," Gupta said.

Gupta claimed that the facts pointing to graft have been revealed in the internal findings of the committee.

"The committee formed under the Special Commissioner (Vigilance), Transport Department, in its report submitted on June 4 found financial irregularities and recommended giving permission for an ACB (Anti Corruption Bureau) inquiry. When the corruption charges became difficult to refute, Delhi government hastily put the process in abeyance to suppress the matter," Gupta, former Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, said.

He also demanded that the report of the Special Commissioner be made public.

Gupta said that for a free and fair investigation, Gahlot and the DTC MD must be removed from their posts.

Gupta said that considering the seriousness of the matter, the BJP demands the L-G to call for a CBI inquiry into the matter.

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, claimed that in the past seven years, not a single bus has been purchased by the Arvind Kejriwal-led government.

"All the buses that ply on the roads today will be taken off the roads by September as their tenures would expire. So while there will be an acute shortage of buses, in the light of the scam, the Delhi government itself has put the purchase of new buses on hold," Bidhuri said.