The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting raids at the residences of former Telecom Minister A Raja and four officials, including his former personal secretary RK Chandolia, in connection with the 2G scam.
Raids are being conducted at Raja's residences in Delhi and in his constituency Perambulur in Tamil Nadu. A search is on for more evidence and links on the 2G spectrum scam.
Raids are also being carried out at the residences of former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, member Telecom K Sridhar, Deputy Director General, Department of Telecom, AK Srivastava and Chandolia.
CBI sources say Raja may soon be called in for questioning too.
The Supreme Court, which is hearing various cases related to the 2G scam, had come down heavily on the CBI recently, asking why it had not questioned Raja even though the report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) faulted him for under-valuing the 2G spectrum and circumventing the rules to favour companies that did not meet the eligibility criteria for spectrum licences. The loss - worth Rs. 1.76 lakh crore - constitutes India's largest-ever scam.
The court had asked why officials who would have been in the know, like the former Telecom Secretary, had not been questioned. It also asked Raja why he had overruled the Prime Minister on 2G spectrum.
Raja was forced to quit as Telecom Minister last month after the CAG report found him guilty. He quit just before the Winter Session of Parliament began, but it was not enough for an Opposition baying for the government's blood on the 2G scam. Opposition parties have disrupted the entire session for almost a month now demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) inquiry into the scam.
The government has held out on that demand and today's raids are being looked upon as a sign that concrete action is in fact being taken.
The timings of the raids are also significant politically. Assembly elections are due in Tamil Nadu in a few months and though Raja's party, the DMK, has so far supported him fully, its bete noir J Jayalalithaa has focussed all her arsenal on the weak link.
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