NSE Phone Tapping Case: CBI Arrests Mumbai Ex-Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey

Pandey is being probed by the ED and the CBI connected to illegal interception of mobile phones of NSE employees.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Saturday, 24 September arrested former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey in relation to the National Stock Exchange (NSE) phone tapping case.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Saturday, 24 September arrested former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey in relation to the National Stock Exchange (NSE) phone tapping case, news agency ANI reported.

A Delhi court also granted four-day CBI remand of Pandey, saying that the central investigating agency has sufficient grounds to proceed with the probe.

Pandey was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in July and is presently in judicial custody.

The former police officer is facing cases being probed by the ED as well as the CBI in connection with alleged illegal interception of mobile phones of NSE employees by iSec Services Private Ltd, a company that was founded by him.

The retired top cop is also facing two ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIRs – the alleged phone tapping case and violation of Securities and Exchange Board of India guidelines in conducting NSE's system audit.

The CBI alleged that iSec Services had conducted audits of two "high risk brokers" in a fraudulent manner when the co-location "scam" was going on.

Who Is Sanjay Pandey?

Pandey was the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) during the 1992-93 Bombay riots and was credited to have brought the situation under control in a very short period of time.

In 2001, Pandey submitted his resignation from the IPS, which he subsequently withdrew in 2002. However, his resignation was accepted in 2003, against which Pandey moved court.

He returned to the service in 2005, with the intent of availing the voluntary retirement scheme at the end of 20 years of service. However, he was neither granted VRS, nor was he given any posting. Once again he moved court and following a court order, returned to service in 2011.

What is Chitra Ramkrishna's Role?

The ED had earlier arrested Chitra Ramkrishna, the former MD and CEO of the NSE in the phone tapping case on 14 July and had told the court that the "snooping of phone calls" at the NSE was being done from 1997.

Ramkrishna was then already in jail in a CBI case relating to the colocation scam at the NSE involving alleged manipulation of the bourse.

The CBI alleged that Ramakrishna is “involved in a serious offence affecting the integrity and functioning of the largest stock exchange of our country and the robustness/integrity of financial system.”

(With inputs from ANI.)