CBI grills ex-TRAI official; Raja may be next

The Central Bureau of Investigation may soon question former telecom minister A Raja and his close associate R K Chandolia in connection with the alleged scam in the allocation of 2G spectrum in 1998.

Official sources said that questioning was expected after agency sleuths transcribed nearly 6,000 telephone calls involving corporate lobbyist Nira Radia, Raja and others during which a purported mention about the allocation of spectrum was also made.

On Friday, the CBI questioned senior bureaucrat and former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) member D P S Seth. This comes after the earlier quizzing of Chandolia and A K Srivastava.

Names of four high-profile bureaucrats have figured in the 2G spectrum scandal: former chairman of TRAI Pradip Baijal, former industrial policy and promotion secretary Ajay Dua, former TRAI member D P S Seth and former economic affairs secretary C M Vasudev.

No specific dates, however, have been decided for the questioning of Raja and the fresh grilling of Chandolia.

Reports said investigators have completed their homework on the case, which included transcribing over 5,000 tapped telephone calls between corporate lobbyist Nira Radia and others. Some of these calls reportedly contain references to the spectrum allocation.