CBI goes thru the motions of quizzing Kanimozhi

Days after the DMK had to eat humble pie in the assembly poll seat wrangle with its state and central ally Congress, it was left red- faced again. CBI sleuths grilled party patriarch M. Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi and his second wife Dayalu in connection with the 2G spectrum scam on Friday morning.

The CBI also quizzed Kalaignar TV managing director Sharath Kumar. The channel is owned by Tamil Nadu chief minister Karunanidhi’s family. The channel’s office is housed in the second and third floors of the sprawling DMK headquarters on the arterial Anna Salai.

In a strange coincidence, while the CBI was subjecting the trio to intensive questioning on the second floor, right below on the ground floor Union home minister P. Chidambaram was engaged in hectic parleys with the DMK regarding seat identification for the coming assembly elections.

Chidambaram leads the Congress’s poll panel. The CBI team left within minutes of Chidambaram and the other panel members moving out of Arivalayam after inconclusive talks that lasted about three hours.

For her part, Kanimozhi maintained that there was no attempt to pressure the Congress to prevent the CBI from questioning members of the Karunanidhi clan.

“ We are above board. We will come clean,” Kanimozhi said, adding: “ We are cooperating with the investigating process unlike many political leaders who don’t.” She was apparently alluding to AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa, whose corruption cases dragged on for years.

On what the CBI wanted, she said: “ Sharath has made a statement. They wanted me to substantiate it. That’s it.” Dayalu owns a 60 per cent stake in Kalaignar TV, while Kanimozhi and Sharath share 20 per cent each. According to CBI sources, the agency had 18 queries for Dayalu even as Kanimozhi and Sharath had to face a barrage of 23 questions.

As was the case during its earlier raid on the TV channel, the questioning pertained to the ` 214 crore given to Kalaignar TV by the DB group of compa- nies of Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa.

The CBI has been criticised for allegedly treating the DMK patriarch’s family with kid gloves. When asked if the agency was soft towards Karunanidhi’s family, the official spokesperson refused to comment.

CBI sources, however, stated that in view of the legal provisions, the agency doesn’t summon women witnesses to its office. The CBI had earlier questioned corporate lobbyist Nira Radia at her home.