2G scam: No sleep till Chidambaram’s arrest, says Subramanian Swamy

Thursday, Oct 20, 2011 : 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh might have given him a reprieve in the 2G spectrum scam, but it is temporary and there is no way Union home minister P Chidambaram could escape from the long arm of law, said Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday.

He was delivering a lecture on ‘Hidden Facts About 2G Spectrum’ organised by the Youth Against Corruption.

“I won’t sleep till Chidambaram is arrested,” said the Janata Party president whose legal and investigative work has fuelled prosecution of the various accused in the Rs1.76 lakh crore 2G scam.

Terming former Union telecom minister A Raja as a small fry in the big scam, Swamy said Chidambaram is the mastermind who guided Raja through the 2G spectrum allocation deal.
Describing the Rs1.76 lakh crore scam as the biggest in the world, he put the amount that was paid as bribes to key players in the scam at Rs60,000 crore.

“Poor Raja got just Rs5,000 crore, Chidambaram got a pocket money of Rs5,000 crore, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi was paid Rs14,000 crore and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi got a whopping Rs36,000 crore,” he said.

Explaining the hard work that he put in for ferreting out relevant documents and files to expose the scam, Swamy said he had strong evidence to nail Chidambaram too.

“Chidambaram has stashed away Rs50,000 crore in foreign banks. It was Chidambaram who guided Raja in framing the guidelines for spectrum allocation. He cannot escape. I will not sleep till Chidambaram is arrested,” he said.

Citing the Tamil Nadu connection of all those who are facing the music from CBI, Swamy hinted at Sonia, too, getting into trouble. “It is better the jail authorities in Tihar be ready to make pizzas and spaghetti,” he said taking a dig at her Italian origin.

The 2G spectrum licences, which were sold at a throwaway price, were later sold by the allottees for prices eight to 13 times the cost they bought it. The country lost revenue of about Rs1.76 lakh crore.
“It is not just about money, the scam has put the country’s security and economy at great risk,” he said.

One of the companies had links with global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim who is hiding in Pakistan and another company had close association with the Chinese army.

“The allotment has put India’s security at great risk as in the event of a war, Indian military communications could be jammed,” he said.

The hawala racket is being used to route the bribe to foreign bank accounts and most of the hawala agents have Pakistani connection. The huge money is then being brought back for investing in the country’s stock market. Swamy cited the frequent upheavals in stock market to this hawala influence.

“This has ruined our stock markets, led to huge inflation, thus making the life of millions of poor and middle class Indians miserable,” he said.

He wanted all the 2G licences cancelled. Swamy expressed confidence that the court would do it if the UPA government failed.

Source : DNA