CBI likely to make Suneeta Reddy witness in Aircel case

NEW DELHI: The CBI may be use Apollo Hospitals Joint Managing Director Suneeta Reddy as a witness to shed light on the Aircel-Maxis deal. Reddy holds a minority stake in Aircel.

CBI had searched Reddy's residential and office premises in Chennai on Monday, even though her name does not appear among list of accused in the FIR lodged on Sunday against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his elder brother Kalanithi, and five other persons and entities in the Aircel-Maxis deal.

Reddy purchased 26% stake in Aircel from promoter C Sivasankaran in December 2005, while the remaining was bought by the Malaysian businessman T Ananda Krishnan through his company Maxis Communications. Sivasankaran had in his complaint with CBI alleged that he was forced by Dayanidhi Maran to sell his entire stake in Aircel.

CBI did not find merit in the argument that her name should be in the list of accused. "There is no evidence to suggest that she was aware of the conspiracy hatched between Marans and Ananda Krishnan to ensure the sale of Aircel to Maxis. It appears that she was persuaded to be part of the deal to overcome obstacles created by Indian laws in the purchase of a local firm by a foreign player,'' a CBI source said. "She may able to help us unravel many aspects of the deal,'' the source added.