It was all quiet when the CBI sleuths swooped down on the official residence of former telecom minister A. Raja to carry out the raids in connection with 2G spectrum early on Wednesday morning. However, with several camera crews and a row of OB vans stationed outside the former DMK minister’s 2A, Motilal Nehru Marg bungalow in the heart of the capital and the police blocking traffic on this road, it led to traffic snarls on the roads in the vicinity of Motilal Nehru Marg.
The raids began around 7.30 am on Wednesday morning and a couple of hours later, traffic movement around Mr Raja’s residence was slow, given that his bungalow is just a stone’s throw away from several government offices like Nirman Bhavan, Vayusena Bhavan and Udyog Bhavan. The water-logging in Mansingh Singh Road about a kilometre away further affected the traffic movement in the area. With reporters not allowed access to the bungalow, they spent many hours keeping vigil outside it. With Mr Raja not seen or heard-he was inside his bungalow when the raids happened — for TV journos in particular it seemed a long and fruitless vigil outside his residence. All that they would do was relay “chats” for their channels, standing outside the sprawling bungalow’s gates.
Traffic police officials said that traffic was heavy around the Janpath area, Akbar Road, Aurangzeb Road, Manshingh Road and other areas which connect to the Motilal Nehru Marg. “The traffic was quite heavy due to the CBI raids at the Motilal Nehru Marg. However, we had to block the road. We didn’t want the CBI officials to face unwanted trouble during the raids,” said a senior traffic police officer.
Commuters were stuck for more than a couple of hours at the all possible roads connecting to the Motilal Nehru Marg and other arterial roads in the New Delhi area due to the CBI raids.