Dubai based tycoon questioned by CBI

24 May 2011

(MENAFN) India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that it questioned the Dubai based industrialist IP Khaitan for alleged interests in the Loop Telecom, one of the beneficiaries of the scam tinted 2G spectrum allocations, reported Emirates 24/7.

The CBI added that it investigated whether the company was the front for Essar Group in gaining unified access licenses for second generation telecom spectrum, adding that the agency questioned Khaitan for about eight hours for his connection with ownership patterns in Loop Telecom. Furthermore, the CBI would look into the alleged link between Essar and Santa Trading, owned by the Khaitans, which floated Loop Telecom and financial exchanges that allegedly took place between the two companies.

It also said that police arrested former telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja, a member of government ally DMK party, and Kanimozhi, the lawmaker daughter of the DMK chief, straining ties between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Congress party and its second biggest partner in the ruling coalition. The telecoms scandal was seen as the largest of several that have emerged in Singh’s second term.

It is worth noting that political and business establishments in India have been shocked by the multi billion dollar telecoms corruption scandal in the country, with a number of bureaucrats, politicians and businessmen under investigation by the premium agency.