CBI raids Maran's residences in Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted simultaneous raids on the homes and offices of former telecommunications minister Dayanidhi Maran in Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi on Monday, a day after registering an FIR against him and his associates in the 2G telecom scam.

CBI sleuths conducted searches at the homes and offices of the former DMK minister, his brother Kalanidhi Maran – who owns Sun TV – the residence of Sunita Reddy, daughter of Pratap Reddy, the founder of Apollo hospitals, and of Ralph Marshall, CEO, Astra TV (which invested in Sun TV) and T Ananda Krishnan, owner of Maxis.

''The CBI has registered a case against the Maran brothers, Ralph Marshall and T Anandkrishnan and three companies under section 120b of IPC read with 13(2) with 13 (1)(d) and also section 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act,'' said an agency spokesman. ''The case was registered on Sunday.'' It accused Dayanidhi of conspiracy, abuse of power and bribery.

The agency is also investigating charges that Dayanidhi Maran, as telecoms minister, set up a private telephone exchange with 300 lines, at his home, and linked to the offices of Sun TV, owned by his brother.

The CBI initiated action against the former minister after taking cognisance of a complaint by C. Sivasankaran, an industrialist, who alleged that he was forced to sell his mobile phone company, Aircel, to the Maxis group of Malaysia at the behest of Maran.

Sivasankaran accused Maran of denying Aircel the 2G licence, but cleared the proposal after he sold his stake to Maxis, owned by Krishnan. Within six months of acquiring Sivasankaran's stake, the company got 14 licences. In return, the Malaysian group allegedly paid a bribe of Rs.600 crore to Maran by injecting funds into Sun TV.

While the former minister has denied the allegations, the CBI told the Supreme Court that Maran as telecoms minister had deliberately delayed providing the letter of intent to Sivasankaran. It claimed it has enough evidence to act against Maran.

Another former telecom minister, A Raja, also of the DMK, is already in jail in the 2G telecom scam. Party MP Kanimozhi – who is the daughter of M. Karunanidhi, the DMK chief – is also in jail in connection with the multi-billion-rupee scandal. Maran, who was the telecoms minister from 2004 to 2007, was forced to quit as textiles minister in July.