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| Aircel |
Malaysia-based billionaire businessman and owner of the Maxis group of companies T Ananda Krishnan is likely to come to India to record his statement in the ongoing probe into the Maxis-Aircel telecom deal. The deal is being probed after former Aircel owner C Shivasankaran complained to the CBI that Maran brothers Dayanidhi and Kalanithi had arm-twisted him to sell off his company to Krishnan, their close family friend.
The Aircel-Maxis deal took place in 2006-07 when Dayanidhi was the Telecom Minister in UPA-I Government. Though the date of his arrival is not finalised, CBI sources say it could be in a week. A senior CBI official confirmed that Krishnan was fully cooperating with the ongoing preliminary enquiry (PE) into the deal.
“We are only requesting key players in the case to personally appear and record their statements. Krishnan is one of the key persons in the case so we need to have his statement made before us,” said a senior CBI official.
“Following the same procedures, till now we have recorded statements of most key DoT (Department of Telecom) officials who were directly associated with handling the Aircel’s application when Dayanidhi was the Telecom Minister, followed by statements of Stanchart Chartered Bank (SCB) officials. After Krishnan’s statements, we would request Maran brothers to give their version of the deal,” he added. Krishnan’s telecom arm Maxis Communications Berhad, based in Kuala Lumpur, is already in correspondence with the CBI through e-mails and video-conferences providing details of the deal.
CBI spokeswoman Dharini Mishra said: “Recently Maxis Communications Berhad got in touch through e-mails and expressed willingness to cooperate with the ongoing probe.
They are now in a regular touch with the investigating team, providing records of the deal and also answering our clarifications. Till now we are satisfied with their cooperation.” Maxis had bought a 74 percent stake in Aircel in March 2006, which was then owned by Chennai-born NRI billionaire C Shivasankaran.
The Aircel-Maxis deal took place in 2006-07 when Dayanidhi was the Telecom Minister in UPA-I Government. Though the date of his arrival is not finalised, CBI sources say it could be in a week. A senior CBI official confirmed that Krishnan was fully cooperating with the ongoing preliminary enquiry (PE) into the deal.
“We are only requesting key players in the case to personally appear and record their statements. Krishnan is one of the key persons in the case so we need to have his statement made before us,” said a senior CBI official.
“Following the same procedures, till now we have recorded statements of most key DoT (Department of Telecom) officials who were directly associated with handling the Aircel’s application when Dayanidhi was the Telecom Minister, followed by statements of Stanchart Chartered Bank (SCB) officials. After Krishnan’s statements, we would request Maran brothers to give their version of the deal,” he added. Krishnan’s telecom arm Maxis Communications Berhad, based in Kuala Lumpur, is already in correspondence with the CBI through e-mails and video-conferences providing details of the deal.
CBI spokeswoman Dharini Mishra said: “Recently Maxis Communications Berhad got in touch through e-mails and expressed willingness to cooperate with the ongoing probe.
They are now in a regular touch with the investigating team, providing records of the deal and also answering our clarifications. Till now we are satisfied with their cooperation.” Maxis had bought a 74 percent stake in Aircel in March 2006, which was then owned by Chennai-born NRI billionaire C Shivasankaran.
