In a PMLA case involving “illegal phone tapping,” the ED detains former NSE Chief Chitra Ramakrishna

In connection with a money laundering investigation involving allegations of illegal phone tapping and eavesdropping, the Enforcement Directorate detained Chitra Ramakrishna on July 14. She was the former managing director and chief executive officer of the National Stock Exchange of India.

When a Delhi-based court gave the agency permission to look into the case, the agency placed Ramakrishna under arrest, the report said.

Following his detention, the court sentenced Ramakrishna to a four-day incarcerated questioning, according to news agency ANI.

ED arrests Chitra Ramakrishna, former MD and CEO of National Stock Exchange; ED granted 4-day remand by court

— ANI (@ANI) July 14, 2022

ED Charged Ramakrishna with Violating the Penal provisions

Ramakrishna was arrested earlier today by the ED on charges related to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, along with former NSE chief Ravi Narain and ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey (PMLA).

They were charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a week before to this action for allegedly intercepting NSE workers’ phones between 2009 and 2017.

The CBI had claimed that Narain and Ramkrishna had hired a business established by the now-retired Mumbai police commissioner Pandey to snoop on the stock market employees by illegally intercepting their phone calls, according to the PTI story.

The NSE’s previous MD and CEOs Narain and Ramkrishna, executive vice president Ravi Varanasi, and head (premises) Mahesh Haldipur are among those listed by the CBI and ED in their respective allegations, it was stated.

The ED allegedly discovered the alleged violations of secret surveillance and then informed the Ministry of Home Affairs about them. Officials informed the news agency that the MHA then requested the CBI to look into the allegations.

A month ago, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) found 18 entities, including those connected to Ramakrishna, former NSE group operating officer (GOO) Anand Subramanian, and the NSE, guilty of collusion in the 2015 dark-fibre case.

The 18 businesses were hit with a total fine of Rs 43.8 crore by the capital market regulator, with the NSE receiving the heaviest penalty of Rs 7 crore. Ramakrishna and Ravi Varanasi, the NSE’s chief business development officers, each received a fine of Rs. 5 crore.