No raids at SBI premises, says chairman

NEW DELHI - Denying reports of raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at any State Bank of India (SBI) premises in connection with the 2G spectrum probe, chairman O.P. Bhatt Wednesday said the news came as a “surprise” to him as well.

“We have checked with our officers in different cities and there is nothing like this happening,” Bhatt told reporters here.

“Let me say that this comes as a total surprise to me and nobody has told me (anything about this),” the SBI chairman added.

Earlier in the day, some media reports had said that CBI was conducting searches in some offices of the SBI as part of its probe into allocation of second generation (2G) spectrum licences.

The SBI is said to have allegedly given loans to companies that were allocated 2G spectrum and licenses in 2008. It is suspected that certain banks flouted norms to provide finance to companies, including Uninor and STel.

A. Raja had to resign as communications minister last year after allegations of corruption in the allocation of 2G spectrum.