Raja's kin quizzed by I-T officials

Raja’s wife Parameshwari, his brother Ramachandran, besides a nephew and niece were grilled at the I-T’s Tiruchirappalli Range branch, sources said.

Raja’s close kin were asked to explain certain aspects of their income, sources said. Their chartered accountants were also present during their deposition before the I-T Deputy Director after which they left.

Parameshwari was a director in a Chennai-based realty firm Green House Promoters floated by the late Sadiq Patcha, believed to be close to Raja. But Parameshwari had subsequently withdrawn from that company much before the 2G spectrum scam broke out last year.

The CBI had been investigating whether the real estate firm had any role in the scam. Patcha had committed suicide in March this year at his rented house in Chennai hours before he was to take a flight to New Delhi to appear before the CBI.

Meanwhile, in a related development, Chennai-based India Cements Limited, which was reportedly under the CBI’s scanner along with another South-based company denied that it had anything to do with the scam, vis-à-vis its alleged investment in Kalaignar TV, a Chennai-based Tamil satellite channel close to DMK’s first family.

Clarifying certain reports appearing in a section of the media on “payments made to Kalaignar TV’, the India Cements said, “the company wishes to clarify that it (payments) related to commercial advertisement contracts for its products and cricket franchise, Chennai Super Kings, made in the normal course of business.”

The N Srinivasan-headed company’s denial come in the wake of some media reports earlier on Friday, stating the CBI was widening its probe into two other companies which had allegedly invested in Kalaignar TV.