Raja, two other former aides arrested by CBI in 2G scam

New Delhi, Feb 2 (PTI) Former Telecom Minister A Rajawas today arrested along with his two former associates inconnection with the 2G spectrum scam.

Raja arrived at the CBI headquarters this morning, a dayafter his brother A K Perumal was questioned by the CBI aboutalleged funding of some front organisations owned by Telecomcompanies which had been allocated spectrum from October 2007to January 2008, official sources said.

Raja, his former personal secretary R K Chandolia andformer Telecom Secretary Siddartha Behura were arrested forallegedly abusing their official position and manipulating thetendering procedures to benefit certain telecom companies ingetting the spectrum.

The arrest of 47-year-old Raja, who has been questionedfour times by the agency, comes over two months after he wasforced to resign in the wake of the spectrum controversy.

Raja, who was questioned earlier on December 24 and 25last year and January 31, was called to the CBI office thismorning and quizzed before being arrested, the sources said.

The DMK MP had been confronted with some questions anddocuments recovered from the computers seized during searchesconducted by the investigation agency earlier at his premises,the sources said.

He was also asked about his conversations with corporatelobbyist Niira Radia and the reasons for advancing the cut-offdate of applying for license for spectrum allocation in 2007by a week.

Raja was forced to resign on November 14 last year inthe wake of the CAG report which held that the spectrumallocation at undervalued prices resulted in a notional lossof Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the state exchequer.

He got the telecom portfolio on May 18, 2007 and wasre-elected as a Member of the 15th Lok Sabha and continuedas Telecom Minister from May 31, 2009, till November 14, 2010.

The Supreme Court has asked CBI and EnforcementDirectorate to submit status reports on their investigationsinto the 2G spectrum case to it by February 10 when the casewill come up for further hearing.

In its FIR, CBI mentioned the loss in spectrumallocation as Rs 22,000 crore based on CVC findings which hadreferred the case to it.

CBI has also questioned former Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (TRAI) chief Pradip Baijal, a 1966 batchIAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, and former TelecomSecretary D S Mathur in connection with the case.