After raiding former telecom minister A Raja’s den, CBI is taking the next logical step of targeting companies partially or fully owned by his family members.
After raiding former telecom minister A Raja’s den, CBI is taking the next logical step of targeting companies partially or fully owned by his family members.
CBI had raided 14 premises of Raja and aides in Delhi and Chennai on Wednesday in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
“Questioning of all close associates of the former cabinet minister, whose houses and offices were raided on Wednesday, is going on. Thorough scrutiny of recovered documents is also being done,” a senior CBI official said.
Confirming the recovery of important documents that could lead to the former telecom minister’s money trail, CBI said it was now targeting a couple of Tamil Nadu-based real estate companies with links to Raja’s family.
The companies are Green House Private Limited, Equaas Estates Private Limited and Kovai Shelters Promoters India Private Ltd.
To begin with, CBI raided on Wednesday the office and residence of Sadique Batcha, managing director of Green House Exports, Chennai. Raja’s nephew RP Paramesh Kumar is joint managing director of Green House Promoters.
Sources said the decision to carry out raids at Batcha’s residence and office was taken on late Wednesday afternoon after CBI recovered important documents at Raja’s Motilal Nehru Marg house in Delhi.
“Documents found at Raja’s place indicated the former minister and his family have interest in Batcha’s company. Subsequently, we decided to raid his house and office in Chennai,” a senior CBI official said.
DNA was the first to report that Raja and family had interests in Green House Exports. Sources said Batcha, a key financier of Raja’s party DMK, was a confidant of the former minister. He hails from Raja’s Perambalur constituency.
Green House was formed barely four months after Raja became a cabinet minister (in-charge of environment and forests) for the first time in May 2004. Three years later, in February 2007, the minister’s wife MA Parameswari joined its board as a director.
However, a year later, she resigned and transferred her shares to Raja’s niece Malarvizhi.
CBI sources said Raja’s brother A Kaliaperumal was also a director on the Green House Promoters board. Another director is R Ram Ganesh, 22-year-old son of Raja’s elder brother A Ramachandran.
“Green House Exports has several family members of Raja on its board of directors. Couple of other companies, which have Raja’s kith and kin as directors, are also being investigated and will be raided soon,” the CBI official said.
Coimbatore-based real estate company Kovai Shelters Promoters India Private Limited, which was formed in January 2007, has Raja’s nephew R Sridhar and nieces R Anandabhuvaneswari and R Santhanalakshmi as directors. Another real estate firm established in 2004, Equaas Estates Private Limited, which has Raja’s wife Parameswari as a director, is also under CBI scanner.
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