Jayalalithaa terms CBI raids on Maran brothers' mere eyewash

Chennai, Oct 11 (ANI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Tuesday termed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids on the premises of former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanidhi Maran in connection with the controversial Aircel-Maxis deal as a mere eyewash.

She further said that a meaningful action could have been taken on Maran brothers' much earlier.

"The CBI raids on the Maran brothers and their offices and their associates appear to be a mere eyewash. We do hope that something will come out of these raids. But it seems to be an exercise in cheating the public because it is more than four years since the news of this scam first broke in the media. And in these four years, so much action could have been taken; meaningful action could have been taken," Jayalalithaa told mediapersons in Chennai.

"It is very difficult to imagine that in this interval of four years, the Maran brothers would still be keeping inclement documents in their residences, in their offices. So, we have to wait and see whether anything comes out of these raids," she added.

The CBI on Monday conducted raids on the premises of Maran after registering a case against him in connection with the controversial Aircel-Maxis deal.

The investigating agency also booked his brother Kalanidhi Maran, Maxis owner T Ananda Krishnan, senior executive Ralph Marshall and three companies Aspro, Maxis and Sun TV.

It has been alleged by former Aircel Chief C Sivasankaran that Maran as a Telecom Minister favoured the Maxis-Group in the takeover of his company and in return investments were made by the company through Astro network in Sun TV owned by Maran family.

The CBI, in its recent status report to the Supreme Court, had said that during Maran's tenure there was 'deliberate delay' to provide a letter of intent to Sivasankaran.

The CBI, in its 71-page status report about the 2G scam said that during 2004-07, when Maran was telecom minister, a Chennai base telecom promoter (Sivasankaran) was forced to sell the stake in Aircel to a Malaysian firm.

The CBI also said that there did seem to be 'an element of coercion' in the manner in which Aircel was sold to Ananda Krishnan's Maxis empire.

The investigating agency said a probe into all irregularities in spectrum allocation during 2001-08 will be completed within three months.

The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed the apex court that they have conducted probe in seven destinations in foreign countries and tracking the money trail could take up to 18 more months.

The CBI in its report has also questioned the propriety of corporate affairs ministry as well as others to comment on the status of relationship between Loop Telecom and Essar. (ANI)