2G spectrum scam: CBI arrests A Raja and two other former aides

The endgame has begun for A Raja. Nearly three years after he allegedly made a mockery of procedures to allot 2G spectrum to his favourites, the former telecom minister and the DMK’s Dalit mascot was arrested by the CBI on Wednesday.

The arrest comes almost two months after he resigned as minister in the face of a blistering opposition attack on the UPA government, triggered by the report of the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) which pegged the presumptive loss to exchequer from the allocations at Rs1.76 lakh crore. The Supreme Court is currently monitoring the CBI’s probe into the scandal.

Raja is likely to be produced before senior CBI special judge Talwant Singh at Patiala  house court on Thursday.  

Two of his associates — former telecom secretary Siddartha Behura, a 1973 batch IAS officer of UP cadre, and personal secretary RK Chandolia, a 1984 batch Indian Economic Service officer, were also arrested. Behura has retired from service since.

The trio was called to the CBI headquarters. This is the fourth time Raja has been summoned by the CBI. His interrogation was still on at the time of going to press.

“All three were arrested on the basis of facts disclosed during the investigation into their role in allocation of letters of intent and the resultant UAS licenses and spectrum to certain companies ahead of others in violation of established guidelines,’’ said CBI’s chief spokesperson Anurag. The agency’s move comes close on the heels of the report of the one-man commission of justice Shivraj Patil, which reportedly indicts Raja on several counts.

The arrests assume importance in the light of the Supreme Court’s directive to the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate to submit status reports of their investigation by February 10. In its FIR, the CBI pegged the loss from the spectrum allocations at Rs22,000 crore based on the CVC findings.