Raids on Marans, an eyewash: Jaya

"The CBI raids against Maran brothers, their offices and associates appear to be a mere eyewash to hoodwink public. We do hope something would come off these raids but it seems to be an execrise in cheating public," she told reporters here.

The raids have taken place more than four years since news about the deal broke in the media. "In these four years so much meaningful action could have been taken. It is very difficult to imagine that in this interval of four years the Maran brothers would still be keeping incriminating documents in their residences or office premises.

"So we will have to wait and watch if anything comes out of it," Jayalalithaa said a day after CBI raided residences of former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother media baron Kalanidhi Maran here and seven other locations.

The CBI raids came after it registered an FIR against the Marans in connection with the controversial Aircel-Maxis deal, alleging that Dayanidhi received Rs 547 crore as kickbacks from the Malaysian company.