Investigating agencies are examining the role of a senior politician, believed to be close to real estate developers in Maharashtra, who may have introduced the beneficiaries of the 2G spectrum scam to ousted telecom minister A Raja.
A key beneficiary was Swan Telecom, then controlled by DB Group, which is in the real estate business. Swan was allowed to jump the queue for licences and airwaves, which investigators suspect was due to its proximity to this politician.
Agencies are probing the nature of the politician’s links with Swan Telecom, which bagged a licence for Rs 1,651 crore, but later Etisalat of the UAE became a partner with 45% holding after paying $900 million, or about Rs 4,000 crore, triggering allegations that licences were sold at throwaway prices to a favoured few.
Swan Telecom is now called Etisalat DB. Investigating agencies are also probing the links between this politician and two directors of Indian descent in a Mauritius-based investment arm of the UAE firm.
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