Author: TNN
Publication: The Times of India
Date: December 16, 2010
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Raids-on-Radia-Raja-kin-take-sleuths-closer-to-DMK/articleshow/7108606.cms
CBI on Wednesday stepped up its probe into
the 2G scam, raiding the premises of at least two persons close to Congress's
ally, DMK, as part of a nation-wide exercise that also covered family members
and alleged business associates of sacked telecom minister A Raja, lobbyist
Niira Radia and former Trai chairman Pradip Baijal.
Raids on Jegath Gasper Raj, who runs an NGO,
Tamil Maiyam, patronised by Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK boss Karunanidhi came
as a surprise and invested CBI's probe with an earnestness it had so far seemed
to lack. Also raided was A Kamaraj, associate editor of Tamil magazine 'Nakeeran',
who is considered close to the DMK leadership.
There were also reports of the agency conducting
searches on Rathinam, an auditor said to be a confidante of Rajathi Ammal,
Kanimozhi's mother and Karunanidhi's third wife. Rathinam features in one
of the Radia tapes where Rajathi Ammal speaks about an unfulfilled promise
the Tata group had made through Radia. CBI, however, refused to confirm its
team had questioned Ratnam.
CBI spokesperson Binita Thakur said "incriminating"
documents and electronic evidence of funds transfers were seized during the
raids, spread over 34 premises in Delhi and in Tamil Nadu.
Raja was the thread that ran through the raids.
His siblings, chartered accountant, Chennai-based businessmen Alok Jain alias
Bobby and Mahesh Jain, considered close to him, were among those covered.
Kanimozhi is aligned in the DMK family dynamic
with Raja who, as the party's propaganda secretary, must have liaised intimately
with Kamaraj. Kamaraj's wife Jeyasudha is a senior executive with Radia's
Vaishnavi Communications in Chennai.
Radia, whose house and office were raided
in Delhi, had lobbied hard to ensure Raja was retained as telecom minister
in UPA-2. Baijal,as the telecom regulator, has been accused of favouring Tata
Teleservices, one of Radia's clients. He joined Radia after retirement, often
vigorously defending the spectrum allocation.
The CBI spokesperson described the raids on
Wednesday as follow-up action to the investigation into the allocation of
Unified Access Service Licences that had led them on December 8 to conduct
searches on the premises of Raja, former telecom secretary Sidharth Behuria,
and some other key DoT officials.
However, there was a big difference between
the two exercises. The first one seemed largely a PR exercise designed to
counter the perception of UPA's reluctance to probe the spectrum scam against
the backdrop of SC's stinging observations and the shutdown of Parliament.
The second, by including people close to DMK, appears to be a more serious
exercise. Also, CBI is now being goaded by public pressure and judicial scrutiny
to go to places it could've gone long ago.
Naturally, there was speculation about the
political fallout of Wednesday's action on Congress's relations with the DMK
whose 18 MPs are crucial to UPA government. There were indications, however,
the two partners may settle for a tense and wary coexistence.
The conversation between Niira Radia and Ratnam,
intercepted by government agencies, is focused on Rajathi Ammal's grouse about
Tata group not keeping a promise they had made through the lobbyist. Name
of a top functionary of Tata also figures in the conversation released by
the Outlook magazine. During the course of the day, CBI also roped in ED officials
to see whether there was a possible violation of Prevention of Money Laundering
Act (PMLA). Of the 34 locations visited by the CBI, 27 were in Tamil Nadu
and seven in Delhi.
In Delhi, besides Radia and Baijal, CBI also
raided alleged hawala dealers Mahesh Jain and Alok Jain alias Bobby and their
export firm in Chawri Bazar. Sources said they have recovered details of several
bank accounts, pen drives and laptops. Mahesh Jain owns JG Exports, which
has offices in both Delhi and Chennai.
The CBI sleuths raided Raja's elder brother
A Ramachandran's house at Anna University, Chennai, from 7.30 am to 11 am.
