Crime branch questions vMoksha founder

He was quizzed on aborted acquisition of vMoksha in 2005 by Chennai-based Helios & Matheson (H&M), he said. Swahney was on his way to Bahrain on Saturday and was prevented from boarding the flight.

"I was approached by Crime Branch officials who questioned me on certain postings which they alleged I had made on moneycontrol.com,'' Swahney said.

Over the past three years, Sawhney has been involved in a bitter row with Chennai-based Helios & Matheson (H&M) over the latter's bid to acquire vMoksha in 2005.

The $19-million buyout of vMoksha ran into controversy after Sawhney claimed that H&M officials and former vMoksha CEO Pawan Kumar had opened an account in Kumar's name with the State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) to facilitate the share transfer without his (Sawhney's) approval or the consent of vMoksha's board of directors.

Sawhney denied that he was detained and his passport had been seized to prevent him from leaving the country.

"Nothing of the sort has happened. Since the case has been pending arbitration and a decision is awaited any time, it is clear that certain vested interests are resorting to arm-twisting by filing false cases against me. I have made no postings against H&M or the ongoing case on moneycontrol.com, and accept no responsibility for statements made on the website by others," Sawhney said.

However, a Crime Branch source in Chennai claimed, without elaborating, that Sawhney had been detained since Saturday evening on charges of "forging documents". He added that a case of forgery had been registered against Sawhney with the Crime Branch on Friday.

"We had given a lookout notice for Mr Sawhney after a case of forgery was registered with the Crime Branch," the official said. "The charges have been substantiated by evidence which we have unearthed during searches conducted at his office premises. Prima facie, we have evidence to initiate anti-forgery proceedings against him," the official claimed.