2G scam: CBI grills Tata big fish

A close aide of Ratan Tata and director of the Tata Group R K Krishna Kumar was quizzed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for over six hours here on Thursday over the 2G spectrum scandal.

Kumar, who also heads Tata Realty, was reportedly called to the CBI headquarters in Delhi along with the company?s Managing Director Sanjay Ubale and questioned about a Rs 1,700-crore loan given to real estate developer Unitech.

Unitech, which owns over 30 percent stake in wireless carrier Uninor, was named as once of the companies that benefited from the 2008 telecoms spectrum allocation swindle that the CBI is currently investigating.

According to reports, the investigating agency is trying to connect dots between the loan and the amount paid by Unitech for spectrum licenses which are believed to be similar value.

The CBI is also said to be digging deep to uncover possible ties between Tata Teleservices which might have been favoured by former telecoms minister A Raja in lieu of kickbaks to his party the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).