CBI quizzes Idea CEO,Delhi realtor

The CBI today questioned Idea Cellular CEO Sanjeev Aga and chairman of Anant Raj Group,a Delhi-based real estate company,Amit Sarin,in connection with its probe into the 2G spectrum allotment scam.

Sarin allegedly had a role to play in the transfer of money to Swan MD Shahid Usman Balwa. Aga was questioned on licences given to the company for the Mumbai circle in 2005,said agency officials.

According to CBI,Sarin was questioned on the alleged transfer of Rs 102 crore to Sidharth Consultancy,earlier called Giraffe Consultancies.

Last week,Special Judge O P Saini,in his order,had said: Board minutes of Giraffe Consultancies Services Ltd were forged to show that its shares stood transferred on February 25,2007 to persons belonging to DB Group/relatives of Balwa. Giraffe Consultancies had funded Tigers Traders,which was used by ADAG to subscribe majority shares of Swan Telecom.

Sarin was questioned on how money was allegedly received in the accounts of Sonata Investments and Oriental Buildtech in February 2007 from ADAG. The two companies are owned by Anant Raj Group.

Agency sources said the money from these companies were then transferred to Anant Raj Agencies (another company owned by Sarin) where it was parked for a few days. It was then transferred to Sidharth Consultancy which is owned by Balwa. It was after this transaction from ADAG that Balwa applied for UAS licences on March 2,2007, said a CBI officer.

Speaking to The Indian Express,Sarin said,We have nothing to do with the 2G spectrum allocation. ADAG and Anant Raj Builders jointly own Roseland Buildtech Pvt Ltd. and the money received in 2007 was purely meant for a property transaction on behalf of Roseland. We were called for questioning and we have explained everything to CBI.

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We had entered into a joint venture with ADAG six years back for two hotels and we were called to CBI to explain our financial dealings with that company, Sarin told PTI.

PM meets President,briefs her on JPC
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday called on President Pratibha Patil to apprise her about the ongoing budget session of Parliament as well as issues pertaining to the Joint Parliamentary Committee that will probe the 2G spectrum allocation.

A statement issued by Rashtrapati Bhawan said the two leaders also discussed the situation in the Arab world besides issues related to internal security.

The 40-minute meeting is the first one after the budget session of Parliament. The two leaders discussed the ongoing budget session of Parliament,issues pertaining to the JPC,measures to check price rise and food security, the statement said.