Was forced to sell Aircel stake, Sivasankaran tells CBI

CBI sources said Sivasankaran was asked to clarify certain questions and series of events involving alleged irregularities in spectrum allocation to Aircel, a telecom firm founded by him and later sold to Malaysian firm Maxis.

Sivasankaran heads $3 billion conglomerate, Siva Group, with operations in realty, telecom, shipping, energy and agri exports and e-education/software.

Sivasankaran statements were being recorded at an undisclosed location in Delhi. Sivasankaran had alleged that his applications for licences were rejected when DMK MP and Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran was the telecom minister in 2006, forcing him to sell Aircel to Maxis, whose owner is considered to be close to Maran and his brother Kalanidhi, who owns Sun TV.

‘Cong shares MK agony’

The Congress on Monday said it shares the “agony” of DMK chief M Karunanidhi because of imprisonment of his daughter Kanimozhi in 2G scam but suggested that it was helpless as the matter was in the hands of probe agencies.

AICC General Secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu Ghulam Nabi Azad insisted that relations between his party and DMK “are good” despite developments related to 2G scam in which Kanimozi as well as A Raja, another DMK MP, have been jailed.

“We share his (Karunanidhi’s) agony. One can imagine the agony of a father whose daughter is in jail. He is upset. But the government had no role. We could not have done anything,” the Union minister said at an interaction with women scribes.

“This is being looked into by investigating agencies and government has not interfered.
Our party MP Suresh Kalmadi is also in jail (in Commonwealth Games scam),” he said.