Searches at Raja's house yield diary with 'incriminating' data

The "diary", according to sources privy to the probe, has some details pertaining to the allocation of 2G spectrum among other incriminating details.

They said the former Minister will also be questioned by the agency soon. CBI sleuths spent considerable time in understanding the entries made in the diary which consist of names of some politicians and corporate honchos, sources said.

Efforts to contact Raja for his reaction did not fructify as he was not available for comments.
Meanwhile, the CBI continued to question former Telecom officials and a Chennai-based businessmen whose premised were raided by the agency yesterday.

Besides Raja, the CBI had conducted searches at premises of R K Chandolia, his former personal secretary, Siddhartha Behuria, then DoT secretary, K Sridhar, then Member, Telecom Commission, A K Srivastava, then Deputy Director General, Access Service Wing, DoT, and his business partner Sadiqui Batcha, Managing Director of Chennai-based Greenhouse Exports.

Raja was forced to resign as minister on November 14 in the wake of CAG's report that the rates at which 2G spectrum was allotted resulted in a possible loss to the exchequer to the tune of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.

Besides being accused of undervaluing 2G spectrum, Raja has also been blamed for circumventing the rules to favour companies that did not meet the eligibility criteria for getting spectrum licences.

The CBI action comes close on the heels of Supreme Court coming down heavily on the CBI on November 22 for failing to question Raja and the Telecom Secretary over the scam, saying it was  "beating around the bush".

The CBI had registered a case on October 21, 2009 against unknown Department of Telecom officials and private persons and companies for allegedly causing loss of thousands of crores of rupees to the exchequer.