2G scam probe entangles Karunanidhi family-December 15, 2010

2G scam probe entangles Karunanidhi family

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times

Chennai, December 15, 2010

First Published: 11:32 IST(15/12/2010)

Last Updated: 16:51 IST(15/12/2010)

In a series of raids on Wednesday in connection with the 2G spectrum scam, CBI officials searched an NGO operated by Rev Jegat Gaspar Raj which has on board Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi. When contacted, Kanimozhi told Hindustan Times that she was not in a position to make any comment as she related stories
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was totally unaware of the development.

Gaspar Raj, the founder and managing trustee of an NGO Tamil Maiyams is also said to be a sympathizer of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). His NGO works for popularizing Tamil language, literature and poetry and is also engaged in high profile events like the Chennai marathon.

CBI sleuths were questioning the employees of the NGO to ascertain if it was in anyway linked to the scam money.

More raids on the residences and offices of aides, friends and relatives of former union telecom minister A Raja continued in Chennai as the CBI officials swooped down on a senior journalist and offices of companies in which his relatives and business associates are connected.

Teams of CBI officials from Delhi began raids early on Wednesday morning at 27 different locations in Chennai, Perambulur and Trichy to look for documents that trace the trail of scam money.

Among the people raided in Chennai included senior journalist A Kamaraj, an associate editor of Nakkeeran group of publications, said to be close to DMK bigwigs.

Sources said that Kamaraj's link becomes even curious as his wife Jayasudha is believed to be the general manager of the Chennai office of lobbyist Niira Radia's communications agency Vaishnavi Communications. Kamaraj's house is located in upmarket Beasant Nagar, a stone's throw away from the Elliot's beach.

A professor said to be close to Raja is also among people who were raided as was the chartered accountant of the former minister, Ganapati Subramaniam.

In Chennai, the CBI was also investigating the hawala link by raiding the premises of Daulat Jain and his offices in the city. He is the brother of Manish Jain, a hawala operator whose name appears in the diary of A Raja seized when his houses in Delhi and Perambulur were raided last week.

Also on the scanner was a chartered accountant of one of the front companies owned by Raja. In Trichy, sources said, the premises of a reporter of Raj TV were also visited by investigating authority officials.

According to sources, the CBI team had once again visited Raja's ancestral home in Perambulur and the house of another aide of Sadiq Batcha, managing director of Green House Promoters, a real estate company that may have been used to park funds from the scam.

Its head office in T Nagar in Central Chennai was also visited by CBI officials and personnel from the IT and Enforcement directorate, sources said.