Raju kin want bank money released. Court says, No

A special court on Friday dismissed the petitions of Anil Verma and Purnima, son-in-law and daughter of Satyam scam accused B Suryanarayana Raju, seeking direction to the CBI to defreeze their savings bank accounts and fixed deposits.

B V L N Chakravarti, the judge trying the Satyam scam cases in Hyderabad, accepted CBI's contention that it is conducting further investigations about diversion of money and on deposits made in banks and that defreezing of accounts at this stage will hamper the probe.

The judge said the petitioners did not submit any document in the court to disclose the source of the amount available in their savings accounts and fixed deposits held with a private bank in Jubilee Hills.

"There is no material available before the court to draw any inference that the said amount belongs to petitioners only and it was their self acquired amount," Chakravarti observed while disallowing their petitions.

Anil and Purnima, (holding Rs 88.49 lakh and Rs 2.13 crore, respectively), in separate petitions, had earlier submitted that the money had nothing do with the offence and that they were suffering financially as the CBI froze both the accounts during the investigations into the Satyam fraud which came to light in January last year.

Opposing their petitions, the CBI had contended that Suryanarayana Raju, accused No. 6 in the multi-crore financial scam in Satyam Computer, was responsible for converting the proceeds of the money acquired by fraud.

"He (Suryanarayana), being brother of former Satyam Computer chairman B Ramalinga Raju and its former managing director Rama Raju, played a prominent role and assisted them in the scam and gained crores of rupees and deposited the same in various banks," the CBI had alleged.

The investigating agency had further contended that Suryanarayana Raju was director of 75 companies out of 327 firm floated by Ramalinga Raju. CBI said they are conducting further investigations about diversion of money acquired by the fraud and also verifying the amounts available in the accounts of the family members of the accused.