2G scam: Raja claims ‘I fully cooperated with CBI’

NEW DELHI/CHENNAI - Former Telecom Minister A Raja, who is likely to be grilled again by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as part of its probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam, on Tuesday said he ‘fully cooperated’ with the investigating agency during the two-day probe and would do so in the future as well.

“I gave full cooperation to the CBI for investigation, and will give full cooperation for the investigation. I cannot reveal what happened between the investigating agency and me during the course of interrogation,” Raja told reporters in Chennai.

Raja, however, refused to disclose any details about the two-day questioning.

The CBI questioned the 47-year-old Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Raja for the second time on Saturday in connection with alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum to certain telecom firms.

Earlier on Friday, the CBI sleuths grilled Raja for about nine hours on the controversial advancing of dates for allocation of spectrum and alleged funding of some of the telecom companies by his kin.

The Supreme Court has asked the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit status reports on their investigations into the 2G scam to it by February 10, when the case will come up for hearing.

The CBI in its first information report had mentioned the loss as Rs.22, 000 crore based on the findings of Central Vigilance Commission, which had referred the case to it.

Earlier this week, the CBI had also quizzed corporate lobbyist Niira Radia at her South Delhi farmhouse in connection with the scam.

Radia was questioned for four hours after her taped telephonic conversations with various influential people, including industrialists, politicians and journalists became public.

The CBI also questioned former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chief Pradip Baijal in connection with the case.

The CBI searched the premises of Raja, Baijal and Radia earlier this month.

Raja was forced to resign from Union Cabinet last month after a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) faulted him for undervaluing spectrum to favour companies who were largely ineligible for 2G spectrum, and added that the government had probably lost Rs.1.76 lakh crore in estimated revenue. (ANI)