Essar CEO Prashant Ruia questioned by CBI

Essar Telecom’s CEO Prashant Ruia was Thursday questioned for close to two hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at its headquarters here in connection with the 2G telecom scam, officials said.

“The questioning has ended now and he has just left our office,” a CBI official told IANS around 9 p.m.

The investigation agency had earlier told a Delhi court that at least two telecom firms, Swan Telecom and Unitech, had received favours from the then Communications Minister A. Raja. Raja was arrested in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam and was Thursday sent to Tihar Jail after a court ordered his detention for 14 days in judicial custody.

Top officials of other telecom companies who were allocated spectrum and licenses for 2G mobile phone services were also questioned by the CBI.

The scam relates to irregularities in the allotment of second generation spectrum to telecom companies that caused a notional loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crore to the national exchequer.