Satyam scam: CBI to probe foreign connections

Widening its net in the Satyam Computer Services scam probe, the Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to question several people in the US, Britain, Mauritius, Singapore, Belgium and the Virgin Islands.

It is examining the possibility that Satyam diverted funds to these countries and then brought them back to India.

Letters Rogatory – or requests from a court to a foreign court for judicial assistance – have already been sent, and the CBI expects a response shortly. Special teams would soon be sent to these countries to question about 150 people. The CBI will also soon file a second charge-sheet in the case, according to reports.

Meanwhile, the sessions court in Hyderabad said it would give a decision on Saturday on the bail petition of B Ramalinga Raju, Satyam's chief promoter and scam operator. Officially in 'jail', Raju is biding his time in reasonable comfort at Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences in the city, with an alleged heart complaint. He asked for bail last week on health grounds.

Raju and his aides were arrested in January and have since been housed at Chanchalguda jail. The court had refused bail to Raju and others on earlier occasions, after the CBI argued it would hamper the investigation.

A petition for conducting lie detector and brain mapping tests on Raju and his aides is pending before the High Court. Orders on a petition seeking a fast-track court for speedy trial are also pending.