A poet to prisoner - 2G changes Kanimozhi's world

On May 20, 2011, Kanimozhi, along with Kalaignagar TV MD, Sharad Kumar was arrested after the special Central Bureau of Investigation court in New Delhi rejected their bail pleas.

Kanimozhi, the daughter of M Karunanidhi, ex chief minister, Tamil nadu, was born in Chennai in 1968. She is a member of Parliament, standing for Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha.

Before venturing into politics, she worked as a sub editor with The Hindu and later as an editor-in-charge of a Tamil weekly magazine, Kungumam. She was a student of Presentation Convent, Church Park and completed her Masters in Economics from Ethiraj College for Women, Madras University. Her interests vary from journalism to poetry. Married twice, her first marriage was with Athiban Bose in 1989, a Businessman by profession. After parting her ways with him, she later married G Aravindaan, a Tamil writer.

Controversies started surrounding her when Outlook magazine in Nov 2010, published transcripts of her conversations with corporate lobbyist, Niira Radia, dating from May 2009. According to the claims made by India Today, Kanimozhi helped A Raja to achieve his position as the Union Telecom Minister in 2007.

A Raja, also a DMK leader has already been arrested for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum scam. He is currently lodged in Tihar jail.

The 2G spectrum scam involved issuing licenses to 122 companies to generate 2G mobile phones services at low cost. Reliance Telecommunication, Tata Communications, Essar, Swan Telecom to name a few.

On Mar 11, 2011, Kanimozhi was questioned by the CBI for her alleged role in the hefty money flow amounting more than an estimated Rs 200 crore from Shahid Balwa's DB reality firm (a joint venture with Swan Telecom) to kalaignar TV, a media conglomerate owned by the first family of DMK. Kanimozhi was accused of holding 20 percent stake in Kalaignar TV.

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