AAP alleges audio tapes prove cover-up for Kanimozhi in 2G scam

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has alleged that a huge cover-up was engineered in the telecom scam to protect parliamentarian M Kanimozhi ,whose father heads the regional Tamil Nadu party DMK.

Prashant Bhushan, a senior leader of the AAP, says that leaked audio tapes prove Kanimozhi's complicity in accepting a 200-crore kickback from a telecom firm which was given an  out-of-turn mobile network license by her party man A Raja, while he was Telecom Minister in 2008. Mr Raja and Kanimozhi have both spent time in jail on criminal charges in connection with the telecom swindle, worth 1.76 lakh crores according to the national auditor.

Mr Bhushan, a lawyer-activist, said that M Karunanidhi, the 89-year-old chief of the DMK, "was in the know and involved with the cover-up." (Highlights of Prashant Bhushan's Press Conference)

The CBI, which is investigating the scam, has said that Swan Telecom routed a huge bribe to Mr Raja which was deposited with a television channel in Chennai which was partly owned by Kanimozhi and her stepmother. Kanimozhi has argued that she was not involved with the management of the company.

Over the weekend, phone conversations were placed online that allegedly have the TV channel's MD, Sharath Kumar, revealing how he altered documents to make it seem like Kanimozhi was not involved with the running of the channel. AAP said it cannot verify the authenticity of the tapes but said they "appear genuine."

Sources close to Kanimozhi say that the tapes do not refer to her by name and that she is not implicated in the conversations.