CBI case likely over 323 phones at Maran's house

[1]

The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to file a preliminary enquiry against unknown people for installing hundreds of telephone lines at DMK leader and former communications minister Dayanidhi Maran's house in Chennai in 2007, an official said Monday.

"We are investigating and are likely to file a preliminary enquiry (PE) regarding this," said a CBI official.

There were 323 telephone connections installed at Maran's residence which were allegedly used by the former minister's brother Kalanithi Maran, who is the managing director of Sun TV Network.

These lines were not ordinary telephone lines but costly Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) connections capable of carrying huge data and facilitating faster transmission of TV news and programmes.

These 323 residential lines were in the name of then Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. general manager connecting the Boat House residence of Maran with the office of Sun TV through a dedicated underground cable, the official said.

This all happened during the tenure of Maran as communications minister from 2004-07 in United Progressive Alliance-I.

The DMK leader quit as textiles minister in July over his alleged role in the 2G spectrum scam.

The official said that the probe agency in 2007 informed the telecom secretary about the phone lines but the department did not give the nod to conduct a probe.