Raja exposed telecom xchange scam after Marans-DMK ruling family fell apart, says Whistleblower

C Shivakumar
Chennai:
It was Union Telecom Minister A Raja who initiated the enquiry against the alleged allotment of 323 ISDN phone connections to former Union Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran after the Maran brothers fell out with the family of DMK leader M Karunanidhi in 2007, alleges C K Mathivanan, deputy general secretary of the National Federation of Telecom Employees (BSNL) Union.

Mathivanan, who is being denied retirement benefits for allegedly gheraoing the chief general manager’s office after former CGM and MP Velusamy, under whose tenure the alleged allotment of 323 ISDN phone connections to former Union telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran were made, said that it was Raja who had ordered an enquiry against the Marans as there was a prima facie case.

Mathivanan alleged that it was in 2007, CBI had submitted the report on the allotment of 323 ISDN phone connections to former Union Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran. However, no further progress was made once the family reunification took place.

“Now the CBI is taking action after six years,” alleged Mathivanan while demanding that the name of Kalanidhi Maran, the Sun network boss, to be included in the FIR. “When Kanimozhi’s name was dragged as beneficiary then Kalanidhi Maran should also be booked as he is the sole beneficiary, said Mathivanan.

Mathivanan said that he was denied retirement benefits for allegedly gheraoing the chief general manager’s office after former CGM and MP Velusamy, under whose tenure the alleged allotment of 323 ISDN phone connections to former Union telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran were made, visited the  Chennai CGM’s office on October 20, 2011.

The disciplinary action happened when we gheroed the chief general manager’s office after Velusamy has been making unexplained visits to the office, said Mathivanan.

“After retirement, what business does he have here? He even comes to the CGM’s chamber and goes through sensitive files. We have credible information that he is tampering and destroying certain documents, besides creating new ones to save his skin,” Mathivanan had then alleged.

“After we gheraoed, I was singled out. Whatever, I did was to safeguard the interest of BSNL,” he told Express.

Meanwhile, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited said that it would provide retirement benefits to C K Mathivanan, deputy general secretary of the National Federation of Telecom Employees (BSNL) Union only after the disciplinary procedures are completed.

BSNL chief general manager A Balasubramanian told Express that C K Mathivanan is being paid provisional pension. “He is not being denied pension although his retirement benefits were withdrawn pending an enquiry. The enquiry is over. A decision on his retirement benefits would be taken once all the disciplinary procedures are completed,” he said.