CEO of Leighton Holdings' Theiss mining arm in India arrested

Raman Srikanth, chief executive of Australia-based Leighton Holdings' Theiss mining arm in India, has been arrested by city police on charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust.
Thiess Minecs, a subsidiary of contracting major Leighton Holdings Limited (LHL), said Srikanth was arrested in relation to ongoing civil proceedings filed by Hyderabad-based Roshni Developers Private Limited in Singapore.
According to police sources, Srikanth was arrested from Kolkata and brought to the city on May 9 on a transit warrant. At present, he is lodged in Cherlapally prison here, they added.
"Our teams went to Kolkata and arrested him. He has been remanded to judicial custody. It was a court directed case based on a complaint by Roshni Developers. We are investigating the case further," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Madhapur Zone) Kanthi Rana Tata told PTI today.

According to another police official, Roshni Developers filed a private petition in a local court alleging that Thiess Minecs has resorted to criminal breach of trust and cheating by violating the agreement both the partied had entered in 2010.
The police official said the arrested executive has been named as accused number three while Thiess Minecs and Bruce Munro, chairman of Thiess Pty Ltd are accused number 1 and 2 respectively in the case.

Thiess Minecs is a joint venture with 90 per cent share of Thiess and 10 per cent share held by Kolkata-based Minecs Finvest Private Limited.
Thiess Minecs India Private Limited is presently working on a coal mining project at Pakri Barwadih near Hazaribagh town in Jharkhand. The coal mine is being developed for state-owned NTPC Ltd.

"The allegation on Thiess Minecs was that the company wilfully did not oblige the contractual obligations with regard to the developing of the coal mine. Roshni Developers alleged that they spent Rs 185 crore towards expenses on developing the mine, thinking that they would get sub-contract from Thiess," the police official said.
In a filing to the Australian Stock Exchange, Leighton said: "The complaint is unfounded and urgent applications are being made to the courts in Hyderabad to dismiss it."
The company did not provide details of any charges against Srikanth.
Thiess is supporting Srikanth and providing every assistance to him and his family, it added.

However, it made clear that "Leighton Holdings and its subsidiary Thiess are unable to provide any further comment at this stage."
In a separate statement, Leighton Holdings said NTPC Ltd issued a notice purporting to terminate the Pakri Barwadih coal mining contract which was awarded in 2010 to its Indian subsidiary.
Shares of Leighton Holdings closed at AUD 19.8, down 1.25 per cent from the previous close in the Australian Securities Exchange.