More Dot Officials Likely To Be Questioned
On Tuesday, CBI officials are reporterd to have informally met R K Takkar, who was heading the telecom commission during the process of privatisation of telecom services. Business Standard's efforts to obtain confirmation about the meeting from Takkar till late last night did not bear fruit.
While it is almost certain that Navin Kapila and Vijay Thakur, officers on special duty in Sukh Ram's office when he held the ministry, will be questioned, at least three other names are likely to be on the CBI list. Both Kapila and Thakur, who were known to be very close to Sukh Ram, were shifted to Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd just before the elections.
Kapila reportedly left the country on the day of the raids on Sukh Ram's residences.
According to sources, two other former DoT officials likely to be questioned left the department some months ago to take up private sector jobs. One of them was a director at Sanchar Bhavan and resigned to join an US electronics major in Delhi. The second official, who was a DDG, was under transfer out of Delhi when he quit and took up a senior position in a Hyderabad-based telecom company.
The fifth person is a serving official of the rank of DDG. Sources say he was shifted to Delhi from Jodhpur by Sukh Ram because Devendra P S Seth, who had held the post earlier, was not toeing the minister's line. Seth was transferred to MTNL as general manager.
Widely perceived to "represent" different lobbies in the telecom industry, these officials were believed to have the blessings of Sukh Ram.