Date:13/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/13/stories/2009011354060400.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

SIT probe into Maytas deals sought

CPI (M) suspects ‘fraud’ in agreements

HYDERABAD: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has demanded that the Centre constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT ) to probe the links between Satyam Computers and Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties floated by the promoters of the company.

The investigation should cover the agreements signed by the government with Maytas Infra for executing various projects.

The CPI (M) has suspected ‘fraud’ in various dealings including the 50-acre land allotted to Maytas Infra at Visakhapatnam, the “hurried manner” in which papers pertaining to Nellore airport were cleared and the “escalation of the cost of Machilipatnam port by Rs. 335 crore” in favour of Maytas consortium, in disregard to the recommendations of a committee of officials.

CPI (M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu told reporters here on Monday that there were several apprehensions about the transparency of the deals signed with Maytas, but the government was not willing to dispel them. Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s claim that the Chief Secretary would review the projects awarded to the company would not serve the purpose as the latter was facing allegations of shielding Fisheries Department executive engineer V. Suryanarayana who was involved in “embezzlement of public money.”

Claiming that the ‘confessional statement’ given by Satyam chairman B. Ramalinga Raju was drafted in association with police and advocates, he said there was no clarity about the “Rs. 7,000 crore that went missing” and “whereabouts of the more than 6,000 acre land, valued at Rs. 8,000 crore held by the company.”