Call re-routing: CBI quizzes Infocomm, DoT staff

After completing all paper work, the CBI has begun quizzing executives and officials of Reliance Infocomm and Department of Telecom in connection with the alleged masquerading of international phone calls as local ones by the former to avoid payment of a fee, which initial estimates suggest caused Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) loss to the exchequer.

CBI sources said Reliance Infocomm CEO in Chennai Som Sundaram was summoned to the investigating agency's office and asked about the process of functioning of Reliance phones.

They said Reliance executives, who failed to appear before the agency on the first date, were called again for questioning after the screening of the files was completed by by the Economic Offences wing of the agency's Chennai branch. After registering the Preliminary Enquiry on September 15 last year, CBI had secured all files related to the case from DoT.

It has so far estimated a loss of Rs 50 crore to the exchequer and the figure could go beyond it, they said. Some of the officials of DoT were also summoned by the agency to explore the possibility of their alleged connivance with the Reliance group.

CBI, in its PE against unnamed officials of Reliance and DoT, had alleged that the telecom giant had manipulated Caller Line Identification system for international calls and routed them as local calls.