No problem if CBI wants to probe Satyam: Reddy

Hyderabad, Jan 11 (PTI) India's eastern state Andhra Pradesh Sunday said it had no problem in a probe by any agency, including Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), into the Satyam fraud, even as Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy rubbished opposition's allegations that he was hand-in-glove with disgraced IT tycoon Ramalinga Raju.

Raju, his brother Rama Raju and Satyam CFO Vadlamani
Srinivas are in judicial custody till January 23 and the
state's Criminal Investigation Department is searching their
houses for evidence in the case - which the chief minister
said had left a blot on the image of the state as well India.

"Nothing prevents CBI from inquiring into this... nothing
on earth prevents any other law enforcement agency from
inquiring into them," Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S
Rajasekhara Reddy told reporters here Sunday, while denying
that CB-CID was hindering investigation by other agencies.

Separate investigation teams from market regulator
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Serious
Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) of the Corporate Affairs
Ministry had reached Hyderabad as early as Thursday, but could
not access the Rajus, who gave themselves up to the state
police on Friday and were remanded to judicial custody
Saturday.

"They are mindless and senseless charges. You can't
expect me to react to such allegations," Reddy said, when
asked about allegations levelled by the opposition that he was
hand-in-glove with Raju.

The current opposition leaders are the kind who would
blame him even if they don't have breakfast after a quarrel
with their wives the previous night, Reddy said.

Reddy said the CB-CID has already booked a case of fraud,
after Raju on Wednesday disclosed fudging accounts to the tune
of Rs 7,800 crore over several years, but the Corporate
Affairs Ministry and SEBI were looking into all other aspects
of commissions and omissions that fall under their purview.

"We are trying to take all steps in coordination so that
the interest of the 53,000 employees, shareholders and
investors are safeguarded," the chief minister said.

"There is no doubt that it is a big blot on our image.
Now, our credibility has to be established by acting tough,"
Reddy said here Sunday.

Satyam Computer, he noted, had remained quite a leading
industrial house in the state. "It's a fact," he said.

To a query, the chief minister said he personally felt
"very, very bad" about the grave scandal in Satyam. "I was
really sad. It was unimaginable," he added.

He said the government was appreciative of the way the
Satyam group pioneered the Emergency Management Research
Institute's (EMRI) services in the state, which were later
expanded to other states. The common-man was worried about the
fate of the EMRI (108) services following the Satyam scandal
but the government was determined to continue them unhindered.

"The state government bears 95 percent of the cost of
EMRI services while Satyam contributes only five percent. We
held a meeting with the EMRI management soon after the Satyam
scandal came to light and assured them that necessary means
will be explored to run the services," Reddy said. PTI TEAM
AM