RADAG transferred Rs 1,902 cr to Swan Telecom, says witness

New Delhi, Nov 23: Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL), a Reliance ADA Group company and accused in the 2G case, had transferred more than Rs 1,900 crore to Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd (STPL) between January and June 2007, an official of HDFC bank testified in a Delhi court on Nov 22.

Uday Shahasrabuddhe, Mumbai-based assistant vice president of the bank, told special CBI judge O P Saini that the amount was transferred from RTL to STPL in six trenches and all transactions were "authentic and carried out after verification".

"I have been shown original instructions letter dated March 2, 2007 from RTL in favour of STPL whereby the bank was instructed to transfer a sum of Rs 974.49 crore from the account of RTL to STPL's account," he said, adding that the money was transferred on March 2.

He said the first request to transfer Rs 28.29 crore from the account of RTL to STP was received by it on January 22, 2007 and after that the Reliance ADAG company had issued four cheques of Rs 700 crore, Rs 100 crore, Rs 90 crore and Rs 10 crore between May 22, 2005 and June 27, 2007 and the amount was credited to the account of STPL.

During cross examination, Shahasrabuddhe said he did not have any personal knowledge about Swan Telecom or its board resolutions.

The witness said, "I did not have any personal knowledge that STPL is not a group company of Reliance Communications."

His cross examination remained inconclusive today and will continue on Nov 23.

Shahasrabuddhe has been produced by the CBI as witness to establish it case that Swan Telecom was "just a mask" for RTL to secure 2G licence, a charge denied by the Reliance ADAG-led firm.

PTI