Ex-NSE MD Ravi Narain sent to 2-day ED custody in money laundering case

Delhi court sent Ravi Narain to two days' custodial interrogation by ED in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal phone tapping and snooping on stock exchange employees

A Delhi court on Wednesday sent former MD and CEO of National Stock Exchange Ravi Narain to two days' custodial interrogation by Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal phone tapping and snooping on stock exchange employees.

Special Judge Sunena Sharma allowed ED's plea seeking Narain's custody till September 9 after the accused was produced before him by the probe agency.

ED's Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta told the court that Narain was required to be confronted with other accused persons and evidence in the matter to unearth the larger conspiracy in the matter.

The ED on Tuesday arrested him in the case.

Narain was the MD and CEO of NSE from April 1994 to March 31, 2013. Thereafter, he was appointed as the vice-chairman in a non-executive category on the company's board from April 1, 2013, to June 1, 2017.

The ED had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in July against former Mumbai Police commissioner Sanjay Pandey and former heads of the NSE for allegedly tapping the phones of employees between 2009 and 2017.

This is the second case being probed by the ED about the alleged violation of money laundering norms in the co-location scam.

Pandey and former NSE chief Chitra Ramkrishna were arrested in July this year in the case.

Ramkrishna was earlier arrested by the CBI in March this year in the co-location case.

Pandey's company, iSec Services, formed in 2001, was among the many IT firms that conducted security audits at NSE between 2010 and 2015 when the co-location scam allegedly took place.

The agencies have found that interception was done without employees' consent.