B. Ramalinga Raju (face hidden) leaves after meeting the magistrate in Hyderabad on Saturday. (Uday Kumar Srichakra)

Hyderabad, Jan. 10: The first question stung like a bullet. “Mr Ramalinga Raju, please tell us why you cheated.”

With that sharp poser around 10.30 on Friday night, the legal investigation into India’s biggest corporate fraud began. CID interrogators squared off with the former Satyam chief who had surrendered to police an hour earlier along with brother Rama Raju.

Almost 20 hours later, around 5.30pm today, the Raju brothers were produced before a magistrate who remanded them in judicial custody till January 23. Srinivas Vadlamani, the chief financial officer of the company, was arrested tonight.

Raju will have to spend the night at Chanchalguda prison for undertrials, a far cry from his plush Jubilee Hills home and also from the air-conditioned room offered to the brothers yesterday at the DGP’s office.

For some time after their surrender and arrest, the police had been hospitable, even kind. Considering his health condition — Raju, 54, suffers from high blood pressure, acute ulcers and is diabetic — he was permitted to have a personal assistant who gave him his medicines and updated wife Nandini every hour. He had milk and bread and was given an air-conditioned room for the night.

But the niceties ended once Raju was taken to the conference room. His brother was questioned separately.

Sources in the state police said the first question was enough to rattle the Satyam founder, never mind that he was a seasoned corporate campaigner used to long verbal duels, tough posers and late nights.

“What the…” was his instant response, but he cooled off when he saw the grinning faces of his three interrogators who knew they had had their desired effect: Raju was unsettled.

The smiles soon vanished as the CID chief interrogator curtly informed Raju: “Please be seated and from now on you are here to answer and not to ask us questions, particularly no expletives or retorts.”

The second question was a repeat, but firmly asked: “Tell us why you cheated?”

As a pale-faced Raju began to explain, sources said, one of the interrogators rudely interrupted him. “For a sin of this nature, if you were in Saudi Arabia, you could have been meted out harsh physical punishment. You are lucky to be in India.”

Then began the barrage of questions from the three.

They first made him sit on a single chair for more than an hour after which he was asked to shift to another place and then after some more time, to yet another seat. Drinking water and tea were made available. Raju accepted water and a cup of black tea without sugar.

When he complained of chest pain, the police summoned government doctors, who gave him a clean bill of health, saying he was suffering from fatigue and exhaustion.

“It is normal to have these symptoms during such moments,” the doctors assured Raju and gave him a mild sedative.

After midnight the questioning stopped and he was asked to catch some sleep, but only till 6am.

The next round actually began around 7.30 this morning. Raju reportedly said he could not sleep well in the new environment and also because a foul smell bothered him.

Around 9am, they offered him and his brother breakfast and allowed them some privacy. But no calls were allowed except from his advocate Bharat Kumar, who came over to see for himself his client’s condition.

In the afternoon, after a vegetarian lunch of dal, rice, roti, curries, curd and ice cream, Raju was told that some Sebi officials wished to speak to him. His advocate was allowed to be present.

The Sebi deliberations went on till 4.30pm, when the CID said it was ready to present him before the magistrate.

Raju’s admirers

An angry herd of investors from all over the country who have been badly hit by the scandal greeted Raju as he began his legal battles.

But rubbing shoulders with them were some two dozen admirers of Raju, most of them from his Byrraju community.

“He is a one in a million leader and only he can help revive Satyam,” one of them said, and even offered to work gratis for the company if Raju was asked to lead it.