Vodafone India offices raided in anti-corruption investigation
VODAFONE was last night facing a fresh crisis in its all-important Indian growth market, after police raided its offices in connection with a corruption investigation.
The weekend searches at Vodafone’s Indian unit and Bharti Airtel’s offices were to seek details on spectrum allocation by the government to operators between 2001 and 2002.
The searches were in regard to possible irregularities in allotting spectrum during the previous government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), now in opposition, said Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) spokeswoman, Dharini Mishra.
“All our documents are in complete compliance with the governing laws and regulations. Vodafone India is completely co-operating with the officials and will provide them all the required details as part of their checks,” Vodafone stated. Bharti Airtel also denied irregularities.
India’s Congress party-led government has been rocked by a series of corruption scandals that sparked massive street protests by anti-graft activists, sent prominent politicians to trial and undermined investor confidence in the Asian giant.