CBI takes Satyam accused into custody

Investigating agency Criminal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday took into custody Satyam's former chairman B Ramalinga Raju and four others for interrogation in connection with the country's biggest corporate scam, from the Chanchalguda Jail in Hyderabad.

"They (Satyam accused) were picked up from the jail at 9.30 am on Tuesday after a CBI team submitted the court order copy in this regard," a senior official of the Chanchalguda jail told PTI.

The XIV additional chief metropolitan magistrate -- the designated court hearing the case of the Rs 7,800 crore (Rs 78-billion) financial fraud in Satyam Computer -- on Monday given the accused custody of the CBI, which took up investigations from the Andhra Pradesh CID last month.

Satyam's founder Ramalinga Raju, his brother Rama Raju, Satyam's former CFO Vadlamani Srinivas, besides suspended partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers S Gopalakrishnan and Talluri Srinivas, would be in CBI custody till March 17.

A senior CBI official said that interrogation has been started, but declined to comment on if the SRSR Advisory Services director Suryanaryana Raju, another brother of Ramalinga Raju, was also present during their questioning.

All the five accused are lodged in the Chanchalguda Central Prison since January this year and were also grilled by SEBI and the SFIO, besides interrogation by the Andhra Pradesh CID.