The arrest of tainted former telecom minister A Raja and his associates by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was triggered by an income tax department investigation on the money trail from a Mumbai-based realty firm to a Chennai-based company.
I-T department officials told Business Standard they had found crucial links to the 2G scam from papers seized during a search in Mumbai 10-11 months earlier.
Though the officials refused to share the names of the companies, they said the information compiled by the department could be one of the reasons that led to Raja’s arrest.
They said the seized documents gave critical transaction details that took place after the allotment of 2G licences. Investigations revealed some of the group companies of the Mumbai-based realty firm transferred Rs 209 crore to the company.
A close scrutiny of the money trail by the department revealed that Rs 206 crore was subsequently given by the realty firm to a renowned event management company, understood to be close to a senior and influential politician — someone seen as a guiding force behind the realty company.
Further investigations in the case revealed the money then changed hands from the event management company to a fruits and vegetables company that subsequently passed on the money to a Chennai-based company.
Officials said the department was in the process of establishing links to Raja and his associates with this Chennai-based company but due to pressures from obvious quarters, the department was sitting on this investigation for quite some time.
One of the I-T officials said the findings might have sealed the fate of A Raja and his associates, after the I-T department passed on the critical information to CBI for further probe. “This clearly indicates that the arrest of A Raja and his associates might be just the first step towards a much wider action on the 2G scam.”
