New Delhi:
Former telecom minister A Raja is going to spend more time in CBI custody as the investigating agency on Monday got his custody for another three days.
The CBI will also question Swan Telecom's Shahid Balwa for another four days.
The agency told the court that both are highly influential persons and there's every possibility that they will tamper with the records and try to win over vital witnesses.
The CBI today also added charges of cheating and forgery to the FIR against Raja and Balwa.
The CBI says that it needs more time to pin down Raja on how he allegedly favoured certain telecom companies in giving out 2G licences, while rejecting other bids, that caused a loss of Rs 22,000 crore.
During its inquiry after the arrest of the two men, the CBI confronted both Raja and Balwa with documents relating to the scam. The duo was also made to face each other and answer questions relating to the grant of licence and alleged undue favours extended to Swan Telecom in 2008.
The investigating agency is also focusing on tracing the money trail that allegedly led from Swan Telecom to close relatives and acquaintances of Raja.
Swan Telecom was allegedly one of the two major beneficiaries of Raja's spectrum largesse when he was the Telecom Minister. Swan was granted a licence for a little over Rs 1500 crore and it subsequently sold stake to Etisalat, a Dubai-based firm, for nearly Rs 4,200 crore.
The CBI is also inquiring into the links the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) had with Balwa's Swan Telecom. ADAG has denied any wrongdoing, but the CBI has said it will continue to look into these.
According to a report by the government's auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Swan was a front for the Anil Ambani Group. But weeks before his arrest, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa had written to the CBI saying the company had business links with Reliance Telecom but it was an independent company.
In 2008, A Raja had also allowed dual technology licences under which ADAG company Reliance Communications was allocated start-up GSM spectrum at the rate of Rs 1,658 crore for a pan-India licence - something which the investigating agencies are looking into.
The CBI also told NDTV that after BJP leader and former Telecom Minister Arun Shourie, more former ministers will be summoned. Shourie is expected appear before the CBI on February 21 and has offered to explain to the agency all that he knows about the spectrum allocation case.
Shourie has claimed that he had told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the scam in 2009, but got no response. He also said he had introduced an informant - a man who said he had details of undue favours given to various firms - to the CBI, but the agency did not respond.
NDTV has access to the report, which states that telecom rules were tweaked to help Tata Teleservices during the NDA regime. It also details how, it says, Swan Telecom benefited during A Raja's tenure as Telecom Minister.
The CBI will also question Swan Telecom's Shahid Balwa for another four days.
The agency told the court that both are highly influential persons and there's every possibility that they will tamper with the records and try to win over vital witnesses.
The CBI today also added charges of cheating and forgery to the FIR against Raja and Balwa.
The CBI says that it needs more time to pin down Raja on how he allegedly favoured certain telecom companies in giving out 2G licences, while rejecting other bids, that caused a loss of Rs 22,000 crore.
During its inquiry after the arrest of the two men, the CBI confronted both Raja and Balwa with documents relating to the scam. The duo was also made to face each other and answer questions relating to the grant of licence and alleged undue favours extended to Swan Telecom in 2008.
The investigating agency is also focusing on tracing the money trail that allegedly led from Swan Telecom to close relatives and acquaintances of Raja.
Swan Telecom was allegedly one of the two major beneficiaries of Raja's spectrum largesse when he was the Telecom Minister. Swan was granted a licence for a little over Rs 1500 crore and it subsequently sold stake to Etisalat, a Dubai-based firm, for nearly Rs 4,200 crore.
The CBI is also inquiring into the links the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) had with Balwa's Swan Telecom. ADAG has denied any wrongdoing, but the CBI has said it will continue to look into these.
According to a report by the government's auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Swan was a front for the Anil Ambani Group. But weeks before his arrest, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa had written to the CBI saying the company had business links with Reliance Telecom but it was an independent company.
In 2008, A Raja had also allowed dual technology licences under which ADAG company Reliance Communications was allocated start-up GSM spectrum at the rate of Rs 1,658 crore for a pan-India licence - something which the investigating agencies are looking into.
The CBI also told NDTV that after BJP leader and former Telecom Minister Arun Shourie, more former ministers will be summoned. Shourie is expected appear before the CBI on February 21 and has offered to explain to the agency all that he knows about the spectrum allocation case.
Shourie has claimed that he had told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the scam in 2009, but got no response. He also said he had introduced an informant - a man who said he had details of undue favours given to various firms - to the CBI, but the agency did not respond.
NDTV has access to the report, which states that telecom rules were tweaked to help Tata Teleservices during the NDA regime. It also details how, it says, Swan Telecom benefited during A Raja's tenure as Telecom Minister.
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