Combative Maran accuses CBI of fixing, claims RSS link

Chennai: A day after CBI arrested his close aide and two others in illegal telephone exchange case, former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran on Thursday charged the agency with trying “to fix” him to please an RSS leader from Tamil Nadu.
“CBI should be a fact-finding machine and not a fixing one…. I am being singled out. CBI is fixing me to please an RSS ideologue from Tamil Nadu,” a comba-tive Maran told reporters here after briefing DMK chief M Karunanidhi on the developments. He, however, did not name anyone.
Maran, who is facing CBI heat, alleged that the inves-tigating agency was compe-lling the three arrested persons to com-plain again-st him and that they were even tortured to give “false statement”. CBI had on Wednesday arrested V Gowthaman, then Addi-tional Private Secretary of Dayanidhi Maran, and two others in connection with alleged allotment of more than 300 high-speed telephone lines to the the former Telecom Minister’s residence in Chennai which were extended to his bro-ther’s TV channel.
CBI had named Maran and BSNL officials, inclu-ding the then Chief General Manager K Bramhanathan and MP Veluswami in the FIR filed in October 2013.
“…after eight years, they are just fixing this case. They have arrested three people. Irony is they have been ill-treated and were forced to give false state-ment. When they refused, they were arrested. Third degree treatment was meted out to them,” ” Maran alleged.”The case was foisted against me during the UPA regime. The intellectual from Tamil Nadu fixed it, it was done by him,” he said.(PTI)