CBI grills Tata, Loop telecom officials in 2G spectrum scam

New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI) Chief Executive Officer of LoopTelecom Sandip Basu and former CEO of Tata Teleservices LtdAnil Sardana were today questioned by CBI in connection withits probe in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

CBI sources said the duo were asked to clarify dealsstruck by their respective organisations with the governmentto get telecom technology licenses and stakes in other telecomcompanies which have actually got licenses on their names.

Besides, both were also quizzed by the CBI in connectionwith their firms'' alleged linkages with Unitech, one of thetwo companies which have been mentioned in the FIR filed bythe agency on October 21, 2009, they said.

While Sardana appeared before the CBI sleuths for thefirst time, Basu had been called for the fourth time in thelast fortnight, sources said.

Loop had got licenses for 21 circles when the spectrumwas allocated during the first stint of jailed former TelecomMinister A Raja between September 2007-January 2008.

While Tata Teleservices Ltd was the only operator to haveapplied for dual technology licence after the policy wasannounced, but later loaned it to Unitech. CBI officials areascertaining the role of Unitech and TTSL officials in thedeal.

The charges against Unitech, according to CBI''s FIR, wasthat it offloaded over 60 per cent of its stake to Telenor andearned a profit of 267 per cent even before the serviceroll-out.

Former Telecom Minister Arun Shourie was also questionedby the CBI in connection with the case during the day. Shouriehad held the telecom portfolio between January 2003 and May2004 in the NDA regime.

Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had in its reportpresumed losses to the tune of Rs 1.76 lakh crore indistributing spectrum to certain telecom firms due to certainprocedural lapses.

CBI officials have yesterday questioned R Krishna Kumarand Sanjay B Ugale, Chairman and Managing Directorrespectively of Tata Realty and Infrastructure, Dilip Modi,Managing Director, Spice Telecom, S Sarvana, Director and VSrinivasan, Group Chief Executive Officer of Siva Group ofCompanies, Shamik Das, CEO, S Tel and Basu for over fourhours.

According to the CBI, nearly 50 licences were given outthen on a first-come-first-serve basis and Bharti, Vodafoneand Idea were among the beneficiaries of the policy.