The CBI was today allowed two days transit remand of Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa by a Mumbai court to take him to Delhi and confront him with former Telecom Minister A Raja,who is also in the agency's custody in connection with the 2G spectrum case. Balwa,who was arrested last evening from his Bandra residence,was produced before Special CBI Judge S C Chandak who allowed the agency two days of transit remand for his production before a Delhi court. Arguing in the court,Balwa's counsel contended that the company of his client was being singled out and was being made "scape goat" despite some more firms being involved in the case. Countering the argument,the CBI counsel said that Balwa sold the licence to Etisalat,a UAE based company,allegedly for Rs 4200 crores while he had got it for Rs 1537 crore. After the hearing the two sides,the judge said that since the CBI has Raja in its custody,it may need to confront the former minister and Balwa as the accused may have divulged something during his interrogation. Balwa's arrest came two days ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on the ongoing 2G spectrum case. Balwas DB Realty had acquired Swan Telecom which bagged 2G licences for 13 circles. Within months,the company sold 45 per cent of shares for Rs 4,500 crore to UAE-based Etisalat. Swan Telecom was later renamed Etisalat DB. Balwas is the fourth arrest in the case after Raja and bureaucrats Siddharth Behura and R K Chandolia. The CBI said that Balwa needed to be confronted with Raja to trace the money trail. CBI officials claimed they had clinching evidence against Balwa,that he channelled the money allegedly received by the former Telecom minister and invested it in the real estate sector. Balwa was questioned earlier and had furnished his bank and company details to investigators. DB Realty had earlier clarified that it did not directly invest in Kalaignar TV and that a subsidiary,Dynamix Realty,did. In its statement,N Sridhar,CEO of DB Realty,said the money was later returned and the company earned 8% interest on it. However,sources pointed that Dynamix Realty,a partnership firm owned 99% by DB Realty,through a three-stage transaction gave about Rs 214 crore and ended up owning 30% in Kalaignar TV. Investigators are also probing the role of other companies and more arrests are likely to take place. Sources said that the ownership of Genex Exim Ventures,which has a strong connection with TN politicians is also being examined.
