In ‘tell-all’, Raja questions motive of CAG’S 2G report
NEWDELHI: Former telecom minister A Raja has said the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) ignored clarifications from his ministry and kept “wailing about spectrum auction” during audits that were the basis of a 2010 report, the findings of which eventually came to be known as the 2G scam.
Raja spent 15 months in prison and was acquitted last month of charges that he rigged the allocation of 2G mobile spectrum in what was then regarded as one of India’s biggest scams and led to his resignation. His ‘tell-all’ book is set to be released on January 20. “…the CAG having decided that ‘Audit reiterates that specific value of 2G spectrum could have been discovered only through an efficient market drawn process’ had developed illusion of grandeur that he could mandate government policy,” Raja writes in 2G Saga Unfolds, referring to Vinod Rai, who was the CAG during 2008-2013.
Rai did not reply to phone calls and a text message seeking his comments on Raja’s allegations.
“Rai continued to skirt constructive discussion on the matter and kept wailing about ‘spectrum auction’. It would perhaps have been in the public’s better interest to investigate Rai’s motivation to rush into this ‘hunt’ almost blatantly ignoring decisions and recommendations of TRAI, the Union Cabinet and Telecom Commission!” Raja writes in the book. NEWDELHI: The ‘Godmother’ of one of Delhi’s largest crime families is on the run after fresh charges of murder and kidnapping surfaced against her barely two months after she was released on bail, police said on Sunday.
The 62-year-old Basiran and her seven sons, including a teenager, were in jail for more than 100 crimes ranging from bootlegging to robbery and extortion to murder. The family is based in South Delhi’s Sangam Vihar.
The woman took a contract of ~60,000 for a murder and plotted to kidnap a young man for ransom in an attempt to collect money to pay for her son’s bail, a police officer said.
The police are considering charging her with stricter laws, which will make getting bail tougher.
As reported by Hindustan Times on November 2, Basiran was in jail for extortion and was never charged with more heinous crimes such as murder, though she is considered by the police to be the ringleader of a crime syndicate.
Police are trying to track Basiran after three men and another woman were arrested on January 10 in Sangam Vihar for kidnapping and murder.
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