2G: Companies knew date of LOIs issuance beforehand, claims witness

New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) A prosecution witness in 2G spectrum allocation scam Friday told the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court that various telecom companies knew the date of issuance of letter of intents (LOI) by the telecom ministry beforehand.

Testifying as a CBI witness, Arun Kumar Dalmia, who worked as advisor for Allianz Infratech (P) Limited, told special CBI judge O.P. Saini that he had come to know about the issuance of LOI few days earlier.

"Other companies had also come to know beforehand that LOIs would be issued on Jan 10, 2008," he said.

When he used to visit the department of telecommunications (DoT) office, officials of Datacom and Idea cellular were also coming to inquire about date of issuing of LOIs, he added.

Dalmia's statement came while being cross examined by counsel Vijay Aggarwal, appearing for R.K. Chandolia, a former aide of ex-telecom minister A. Raja.

The witness added that Allianz Infratech had sold its entire stake to Swan Telecom.

The CBI has alleged that former telecom minister A. Raja entered into a conspiracy with others and had illegally granted LOIs to companies Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless.

According to the government auditor, the 2G scam, allegedly masterminded by former telecom minister A. Raja, pertained to a biased distribution of mobile airwaves and operating licences, in lieu of kickbacks, to telecom firms that could have cost the treasury up to Rs.1.76 lakh crore in lost revenue.

Nineteen individuals and six companies are accused in the case. Except for Raja and former telecom secretary Siddhrath Behura, all other arrested accused have been released on bail.