49 Facts About Vipin Khanna

Vipin Khanna founded Dynamic Sales Service International, a commodities trading and marketing company, which further expanded into railways, infrastructure, shipbroking and additional industries.

Vipin Khanna was a Non-Resident Indian based in London, England, and had a base in Delhi, India.

Vipin Khanna was commissioned into the Indian Army in 1950, and eventually reached the rank of Major, before voluntarily retiring from the army in 1965.

Vipin Khanna's name was frequently associated with numerous controversies, including allegations of arms lobbying, links to offshore companies, and involvement in bribery scandals; however, investigations into these matters found no evidence of wrongdoing, and the allegations were subsequently dropped.

Vipin Khanna was allegedly one of the largest and most powerful arms dealers in India since the 1980s; however, the allegations against him were never proven.

Vipin Kumar Khanna was born on 14 December 1930 in Lahore, Punjab Province, British India.

In 1950, Vipin Khanna was commissioned into the Indian Army after graduating from the National Defence Academy, which at the time was known as the Joint Services Wing, and was part of the Indian Military Academy, in Dehradun.

Vipin Khanna was commissioned into the Brigade of the Guards regiment.

When he returned to India, Vipin Khanna became an instructor at the College of Combat, Mhow, which is known as the Army War College, Mhow, for three years.

Vipin Khanna eventually rose to the rank of Major; however, he voluntarily retired from the Indian Army in 1965.

Vipin Khanna's retirement came into effect on 17 July 1965.

Vipin Khanna stated that his reasons for seeking premature retirement were that he saw no future prospects for himself within the army and that he had domestic concerns.

Vipin Khanna started his business career after voluntarily retiring from the Indian Army in 1965.

Vipin Khanna began his career by joining Delhi Small Scale Industries, a textile manufacturing and import-export company founded in the 1950s by his father, Shanti Lal.

In 1967, Vipin Khanna founded Dynamic Sales Service International, which initially started as a commodities trading and marketing company.

Also during the 1970s, Vipin Khanna, according to his own statements in communication documents to the United States Department of State, had developed connections within the Government of India and the Indian bureaucracy.

Vipin Khanna facilitated the import of commodities from foreign multinational companies, which included Cargill, Nova Chemicals, Husky Energy and Mobil, before its merger with Exxon.

In 1997, Vipin Khanna entered the drinks and alcohol industries through his company Clan Morgan, which was based in Alwar, Rajasthan.

Vipin Khanna had its distilleries and bottling plants located in Rajasthan.

In 2009, Vipin Khanna entered the software industry through his company V4 Security Service, which was based in Delhi.

Vipin Khanna had interests in the real estate and hotel industries in the United Kingdom.

In 1985, during a visit to India, United States Senator Richard Lugar met with Vipin Khanna to examine US foreign policy in India and South Asia.

In 2006, amid an investigation into Vipin Khanna's alleged business dealings, the Indian Government asserted that he was powerful enough to influence global investigative agencies.

Vipin Khanna was allegedly one of the three largest arms dealers in India, along with Sudhir Choudhrie and Suresh Nanda.

Vipin Khanna was allegedly an influential figure in the Indian defence industry and reportedly, played an instrumental role in the approval of defence deals in India.

Allegations against Vipin Khanna suggested that he could influence deals in the defence procurement process by leveraging his network within the Indian bureaucracy and allegedly paying large bribes to politicians, military officials, and bureaucrats involved in the process.

Vipin Khanna was allegedly linked to various foreign defence companies and was allegedly involved in various arms deals in India.

In 1987, Vipin Khanna was investigated by the Ministry of Finance for his alleged links to Saab; however, before the investigation could progress further, the officer in charge of the investigation was transferred.

Vipin Khanna was reported in 1986 to have allegedly been the arms agent for Hughes Helicopters, an American helicopter manufacturer that became McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems in 1984 and later MD Helicopters in 1999.

In 1999, it was alleged that Vipin Khanna was the arms agent for Thomson-CSF, a French defence, aerospace and electronics company that was rebranded as Thales Group in 2000.

In 2001, Vipin Khanna's name appeared in Operation West End, a sting operation that was organised and carried out by Tehelka, an Indian news magazine.

Berry claimed that Vipin Khanna was allegedly the arms agent for several Israeli defence companies, among which were Elbit Systems, Elisra, Tadiran Communications and Symtech.

In 1999, it was alleged that Vipin Khanna was involved in the deal signed by the Indian government in 1996 to procure the avionics package for the MiG-21, a Soviet fighter aircraft designed by Mikoyan, a with avionics equipment manufactured by various Israeli defence and aerospace companies, for which he was allegedly the arms agent.

In 2005, Vipin Khanna was accused of allegedly facilitating the arms deal that involved the sale of 1,200 anti-materiel rifles from Denel, a South African aerospace and defence company, to the Indian Army in 2003.

The CBI claimed that Vipin Khanna allegedly influenced the Price Negotiation Committee of the Ministry of Defence.

In 2007, Vipin Khanna was accused by the CBI of involvement in the Barak Missile scandal, which stemmed from a 2000 contract in which the Indian Navy agreed to purchase seven Barak anti-missile defence systems and 200 Barak missiles from Israeli defence company Israel Aerospace Industries.

The CBI stated that Vipin Khanna was a very influential and highly connected person, who was powerful in both India and internationally.

Vipin Khanna was accused of swinging the aircraft deal, which was signed in 2008, in favour of Embraer by influencing the IAF and the Defence Research Development Organization.

The first information report filed by the CBI mentioned that Vipin Khanna used an offshore company named Interdev Aviation Services Pte Ltd, located in Singapore, to channel payments from Embraer into India to use for kickbacks.

Reportedly, Natwar Singh, the then-Minister of External Affairs and a family relative of Vipin Khanna's, received kickbacks, parts of which allegedly went to Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.

Between 2006 and 2007, Vipin Khanna was connected by the CBI and ED to a network of offshore companies based in London, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

The CBI and ED claimed that Vipin Khanna owned numerous offshore companies, and was allegedly disguising and routing his vast commissions from defence deals through these offshore companies.

Vipin Khanna denied any links to all offshore companies and financial transactions, and Gopal Subramaniam, an Additional Solicitor General of India, stated to the Supreme Court of India that both the CBI and the ED had found no material evidence linking Vipin Khanna to offshore companies and the transactions.

In 2007, the CBI claimed that Vipin Khanna owned or had business interests in various companies in the UK and other countries.

Vipin Khanna was married to Naginder Kumari, the daughter of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala and the sister of Yadavindra Singh, the last Maharaja of Patiala.

Vipin Khanna's daughter, Vinita, married Randhir Singh, a sports administrator who is the President of the Olympic Council of Asia and was a member of the International Olympic Committee.

One of her sisters, Amrit Kumari Vipin Khanna, was married to Vipin Khanna's brother, Ravi, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army's Brigade of the Guards regiment.

Vipin Khanna was a Non-Resident Indian who was based in London and he had a base in New Delhi.

Vipin Khanna died on 7 November 2019, at the age of 88, in New Delhi.