Enforcement Directorate questions Nira Radia for nine hours

Corporate lobbyist Nira Radia maintained her composure even as the media surrounded her when she came to the Delhi zone office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at 9.30am on Wednesday.

She was subsequently grilled for nine hours in connection with her taped conversations with the who’s who of India Inc.

“I’m here and available for complete cooperation with the authorities,” Radia said. “Whatever information is required from us as part of the ongoing probe, would be provided. The matter is pending before the Supreme Court and sub judice. I would speak to you at an appropriate time.”    

Radia, who holds a British passport, has pleaded innocence amid allegations that she fixed bandwidth licences on behalf of some corporate houses. “We have recorded her statement and she has promised to submit certain papers. We would be calling her as and when required,” said Prabhakant Jha, deputy director, ED Delhi zone. Radia had earlier cited health issues and evaded appearing before the ED.

“While questioning, we simply confronted her on the taped conversations. Our line of investigation is whether money laundering has been done in the 2G spectrum allocation. We also asked her about her links with some of the telecom companies that were allocated 2G spectrum in 2008 by A Raja, the then telecom minister, ‘’ said a senior ED officer, who was part of the interrogation.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday admitted it had in its possession 5,851 call recordings, many of them 30-40 minutes long, of Radia with various people.