Former Telecom Minister A Raja arrested

India's former telecommunications minister A Raja has been arrested in connection with an alleged multi-billion dollar corruption scandal. Mr Raja, who has denied any wrongdoing, was forced to quit in November over the sale of mobile telephone licences for a fraction of their value. Ex-telecommunications secretary Siddharth Behuria and Mr Raja's aide RK Chandolia have also been held.
Mr Raja was interrogated this morning for the second time this week. Sources said he was evasive on key matters. He will have to be produced in a court within 24 hours. Though the spectrum scam had loomed over his ministry since the sale of 2G frequency to telecom operators in 2008, it was in November 2010 that Mr Raja finally exited the government. What pushed him through the out-door was a report by the government's auditor which concluded that as Telecom Minister, Mr Raja under-valued spectrum and sold it to companies that he favoured even though they were largely ineligible for licenses to run mobile networks.