ED arrests Chitra Ramkrishna in phone tapping case

New Delh: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested Chitra Ramkrishna, the former CEO cum MD of National Stock Exchange (NSE) in connection with a money laundering case pertaining to allegedly tapping the phones of NSE employees between 2009 and 2017 with the help of former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey.

Ramkrishna is currently lodged behind the bars. The probe agency moved the court to seek permission to record her statement, and demand her custodial remand.

The ED said that her questioning was must as she had been named as an accused in the matter.

The court has allowed the ED plea and granted the anti-money laundering agency four days’ custodial remand of Ramkrishna.

Earlier, the CBI had on last Friday recorded the statement of Sanjay Pandey in this connection.

Pandey’s statement was recorded at CBI’s Mumbai-based headquarters. After the questioning, he was allowed to go. CBI sources said that he, however, could be called again to join the investigation.

The case was lodged by the federal probe agency on the directions of Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The ED’s case is on the basis of the case of the CBI.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had also conducted raids in Mumbai, Pune and in several other parts of the country in this connection.

“Pandey ran iSec Securities Pvt. Ltd. It has been alleged that Ramkrishna used this firm to tap the phone of NSE’s employees. The phone calls made by NSE employees between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. were tapped and recorded by iSec Securities Pvt. Ltd. It has been alleged that Pandey helped in tapping the phone calls illegally,” a source had said. IANS