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India 'Scam' Minister A Raja's Aide Is Found Dead
BBC NEWS, SOUTH ASIA
March 16, 2011: An associate of former Indian Telecommunications Minister A Raja has committed suicide, police say. Sadiq Batcha hanged himself at his home in Madras (Chennai), reports say. Federal investigators had recently questioned Mr Batcha about his suspected role in a multi-billion dollar telecoms scandal. Sadiq Batcha, a close associate of Mr Raja, owned a real estate company. Federal investigators raided it in December a month after Mr Raja was forced to resign. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Mr Raja in February.
Mr Raja is accused of issuing the frequency licenses on a "first-come, first-served" basis instead of auctioning them. Critics said the low return was underscored when India's auction last May of mobile bandwidth ended up reaping $15bn (£9.4bn), twice the sum expected.
Mr Raja is in prison in connection with the scandal, accused of selling mobile phone frequency licences for a fraction of their value. He denies wrongdoing.
Auditors estimate the alleged mis-selling of the licenses cost the exchequer nearly $40bn (£24.5bn) in lost revenue.
Ex-Telecommunications Secretary Siddharth Behuria and Mr Raja's aide RK Chandolia were also held.
India is the world's fastest growing mobile phone market.
