Updated on Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 00:00 IST

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi, Jan 13: As the Satyam saga continues to unfold, more revelations are coming to the fore. Reports are now suggesting that the Income Tax Department had in early 2002 found a number of benami bank accounts being operated by Satyam’s ex-chairman B Ramalinga Raju.

As per a news channel, the Hyderabad wing of the I-T department had even carried out search operations at many of the Satyam’s offices that year and discovered the multiple benami accounts, opened in the name of relatives and friends and operated by Raju.

Moreover, fixed deposits amounting to nearly Rs 30 crore were found in those accounts. Those accounts were regularly used for trading in shares of Satyam Computers, which was in violation of the insider-trading norms.

Raju’s political connections also become apparent in view of the new revelations as the I-T department’s report on Raju’s benami accounts were overlooked by the then ruling TDP in Andhra Pradesh and the NDA at the Centre.