CID probe ordered into Satyam fraud

Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy has asked the Crime Investigation Department to conduct a preliminary inquiry and look into whether the State government could initiate criminal action against the Satyam Computers following the admission of its Chairman B. Ramalinga Raju that the company accounts were manipulated. Dr. Reddy, who monitored development on the Satyam front in New Delhi on Wednesday, announced the probe at a press conference. “The figures mentioned in his letter are mind-boggling. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) should look into it and take action. The State government’s role in such cases is very limited,” he remarked. Denying the government had awarded any major project to Satyam, he said the Hyderabad Metro Rail project was awarded to the Maytas-led consortium. “I have asked the Chief Secretary to look into all aspects related to the metro project,” he noted. Asked about the clean chit he gave to the company a few days earlier, Dr. Reddy said “I never gave any certificate to Satyam. I only said that its attempt to take over Maytas was an issue between those two companies and the State government has no role in it. Now that Mr. Ramalinga Raju has confessed wrongdoing running into000 of0000000, we will take the legally-required action,” he added. Meanwhile, sources in the Chief Minister’s office did not rule out the possibility of the government reviewing the Metro Rail Project, the Machilipatnam Port and six Special Economic Zones being developed by Maytas. They indicated that the Visakhapatnam SEZ could be cancelled and the 50 acres of land allotted to Satyam resumed. The other SEZs are being developed by Satyam and Maytas on their own lands. Ill-equipped Officials said that the CID was ill-equipped to investigate economic offences of such magnitude. The State police had several limitations as the probe would require them to interact with financial institutions, banks and international agencies. “It will be better if the case is handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which has a separate cell for the purpose.”