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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the residences of former Telecom Minister A Raja and four officials in connection with the 2G scam in Delhi and Chennai on Wednesday. A search is on for more evidence and links on the 2G spectrum scam. The raids are also being carried out at the residences of former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, member Telecom K Sridhar, Deputy Director General, Department of Telecom, AK Srivastava and RK Chandolia. According to sources Raja may soon be called in for questioning too. The CBI earlier searched offices of Wireless Planning Cell (WPC), the department responsible for allocating Spectrum, and the office of Deputy Director General (Access Services) of the Telecom Ministry to probe the allegations of connivance of officials with private companies in allocation of Spectrum. The Supreme Court, which is hearing various cases related to the 2G scam, had come down heavily on the CBI recently, asking why it had not questioned Raja even though the report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) faulted him for under-valuing the 2G spectrum. The apex court had also asked why officials who would have been in the know, like the former Telecom Secretary, had not been questioned. It also asked Raja why he had overruled the Prime Minister on 2G spectrum. Raja was forced to resign last month under considerable pressure from the Congress, which continues to be attacked in Parliament by the Opposition on corruption charges. The 2G spectrum allocation has reportedly caused an alleged loss of Rs1.76 lakh crores to the Government, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has stated in a damning report.

2G scam case: CBI raids A Raja's residences