NSE fraud case: Anand Subramanian sent to CBI custody till March 6

A Special Court on Friday sent Anand Subramanian, the former Chief Strategic Advisor of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), to CBI custody till March 6 in connection with the NSE fraud case. He was placed under arrest in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday at Chennai by the federal probe agency. He was later brought to Delhi where the CBI produced him in court.

The agency said that his custodial interrogation was required to confront him with seized articles and others involved in the case. The court after hearing the contention of the CBI allowed its plea and gave Anand into their custody till March 6.

 

Recently his statement was recorded for three consecutive days at Chennai. He was evasive throughout the questioning.

Subramanian was brought to the NSE by Chitra Ramakrishna and he reportedly had access to the email ID on which the emails were sent to Yogi with whom the classified information was shared.

The CBI recently raided the SEBI office and recovered some incriminating papers, evidence and digital documents.

"These are crucial documents and evidence nailing the lies of the alleged accused involved in the case. We are in the process of making a foolproof case against all the accused. These will help the prosecution in proving our case when it will go to court," said the source.

The CBI had on February 19 grilled erstwhile NSE director Ravi Naraian. He served as CEO of NSE before Chitra Ramakrishna.

Earlier it was said that he had fled to London and is living there. But the CBI source confirmed to IANS that Ravi Naraian was in Delhi where his statement was recorded.

"Ravi was asked to join the investigation. He responded to our summon. He was called at Delhi office where he was grilled. He is also a suspect in the case," said the CBI source.

Ravi too was evasive and tried to evade a lot of questions. He also requested that his LOC should be closed.

Chitra Ramakrishna, the ex MD and CEO of the National Stock Exchange, was recently grilled by the CBI in Mumbai. On February 18 she got her statement recorded with the federal probe agency.

The CBI had asked her around 50 questions. She had tried to play the victim card by claiming she didn't know a lot of things. She had also claimed that she was innocent and somebody was trying to frame her.

The CBI had asked her for how long she had been sending mails to Yogi Baba, was she given any cut for sharing classified information, if yes where she invested the money.

The CBI had already opened a Look Out Circular against Chitra, Anand Subramanian and Ravi.

Source told IANS that Chitra and two others involved in the case were flight risk and hence we opened their LOC. Arrests in the case are now more likely.

The CBI had lodged an FIR against Chitra on the basis of the 192 page report of SEBI in which she has been accused of leaking classified information to a Yogi who lived in the Himalayas.

The mystery man Yogi has still not been found by the CBI. Meanwhile LOCs were issued against the accused involved in the case.

"There was a flight risk, there were possibilities that they may flee abroad and taking preventive steps we issued the LOC," sources had told IANS.

On February 17, the Income Tax Department had conducted raids at the house of Chitra in Mumbai and Chennai. Incriminating documents were recovered during the raids.

The I-T department scanned various transactions and digital records. They also recorded the statements of a few of her employees.

Recently SEBI had imposed a fine of Rs 3 crore on her. SEBI had uploaded a 192-page order on its official website narrating how Chitra was allegedly involved in suspicious activities by leaking information.

Chitra had said that a sage, who lives in the Himalayas, was giving her directions. She also sent him emails regarding the NSE.

She quit SEBI in December 2016.

It has been learnt that she allegedly shared vital inputs with the Yogi. "Information regarding organisational structure, dividend scenario, financial results, human resource policies and related issues, response to regulator, etc., were shared by her with the Yogi," said the source. Between 2014 and 2016 she sent emails at rigyajursama@outlook.com.

Subramanian was made the Chief Strategic Advisor of NSE. He served at this post between 2013 and 2015. He was given the post of group operating official and advisor to the MD. He discharged his duties on this post between 2015 and 2016.

Subramanian, who had previously been working as a mid-level manager in Balmer and Lawrie, had no exposure to the capital market. His salary was increased from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 1.68 crore annually. In 2017 his salary was hiked to Rs 4.21 crore yearly.

--IANS

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