New Delhi:
The five aides of A Raja, who were raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday in connection with the 2G spectrum scam, face another round of grilling today. Will they nail the former Telecom Minister in what is said to be India's biggest scam ever?
Sources have told NDTV that the investigation will speed up now and Raja could be questioned any time soon. The investigating the agency is also free to arrest Raja, and doesn't need prior sanction for this.
A year after it took over the investigations, the CBI on Wednesday raided Raja's house in Delhi, along with his homes in Tamil Nadu. There were searches in 14 places. The CBI said it found incriminating evidence during its searches.
Raja was sacked as Telecom Minister last month after the government's auditor offered voluptuous criticism, stating that he broke rules, ignored the advice of the PM, and deliberately gave away precious 2G spectrum at clearance prices to companies that lied or misrepresented information to land the licences. (
CAG report on 2G allocation |
Highlights)
In Tamil Nadu, apart from Raja's house in his constituency Perambulur, the CBI raided the home of Sadiq Batcha, believed to be a business partner of Raja. Batcha was then taken from his house to the CBI office. (
Read: Is this man A Raja's frontman?)
The agency said the searches were made based on a first information report (FIR) filed on October 21 2009, when Raja was Telecom Minister. Raids were also carried out at the residences of former Telecom officials like RK Chandolia, then personal secretary to Raja, Siddhartha Behuria, then Telecom Secretary, K Sridhar, then a member of the Telecom Commission and AK Shrivastava, then Deputy Director General in the Department of Telecom (DoT).
Chandolia was also taken to the CBI headquarters in Delhi for questioning. Sources say that as the man who coordinated the different aspects of 2G allocation, he may well hold the key to the entire investigation.
DMK STANDS BY ITS MANRaja has been unflappable through this phase - even as the Supreme Court, which is monitoring different 2G cases, asked the CBI why Raja has not yet been interrogated. The court also slammed Raja for ignoring the Prime Minister's advice which suggested that Raja consider a different policy for 2G allocation. Raja rejected that notion in a letter to the PM - the tone of that note was also held up by the court as inappropriate.
(Watch: What is 2G spectrum scam?) | (
Who is A Raja?) | (
2G Scam: Supreme Court questions Raja's decision to ignore PM's reservations)The CBI has been asked repeatedly by the Supreme Court about why it's moving slowly in its investigation against Raja and others who worked with him in the Telecom Ministry.
Raja's party - the DMK - has so far been staunch in its support, with party chief M Karunanidhi offering a defense earlier this week which included a complex reference to a mythological monster and silent films. Karunanidhi has been a prolific screenwriter in the Tamil film industry.
(Read: In Raja's defense, Karunanidhi refers to silent movies) On Wednesday, he said that the DMK will continue to support Raja because "he has done nothing wrong and hasn't been found guilty... if he is found guilty, he will be thrown out."
CBI: MONEY INVOLVED IS "MIND-BOGGLING"In court on Wednesday, the CBI shared details of the raids and also said that it expects to complete its investigation by the end of February. The agency described the amount of money involved in the scam as "mind-boggling".
The court has also asked the CBI to examine how telecom companies who won 2G licenses raised massive loans from public sector banks. Rs 26,000 crore was allegedly loaned to five companies in mid-2009 - after the CBI had begun its investigation into the 2G scam. The Supreme Court observed, "If it is true, it is astonishing and has got wider ramifications involving public sector banks and it is eating into the vital economy of our country."
The Enforcement Directorate, which has been studying how companies involved in the scam violated foreign exchange laws, submitted its report on the money trail to the court in a sealed cover. The money trail in 10 countries is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate.