After Dayanidhi Maran,his elder brother Kalanidhi Maran is now under the CBI scanner. Sources in the agency said Kalanidhi,in fact,would also be questioned. They said they are probing allegations that Kalanidhi,as chairman of Sun TV,brokered a deal between the Maxis group of Malaysia and his brother,then telecom minister. In 2006,the Maxis group,considered close to the Marans,is alleged to have bought a 74 per cent stake in Aircel,after which Aircel was allotted several more telecom circles allegedly part of the deal. CBI sources said they would ask Kalanidhi about his assets and the Income Tax returns he filed during the period when Aircel was awarded these licences. The Maxis group allegedly invested Rs 600 crore in Suns DTH project,too. The sources said they have taken the statements of two DoT officials,then senior DDG P K Mittal and then joint wireless operator R J S Kushwaha,and then Secretary (Telecom) Nripendra Misra. Their statements seem to back the allegations made by former Aircel chief C Sivasankaran,the officials said. It appears that Kalanidhi influenced the process of granting the licences to Aircel. We are in the process of recording statements of other witnesses named by Sivasankaran, said a CBI official,adding they suspect Dayanidhi had prevailed on Sivasankaran,too,to sell his stake to the Maxis group. Officials said they are looking into various aspects of the takeover,apart from examining the financial transactions of Sun TV and the Maxis group.
