Raju has it tough with Sebi

Feb. 4: The interrogation of Mr B. Ramalinga Raju by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), which began on Wednesday, wou-ld have come as quite a change for the man who had it easy with CID officials.

Unlike at the CID questioning, where officials were not allowed to carry a pen and paper, where Mr Raju’s counsel were present throughout, and where questioning was restricted to an hour a day, Sebi officials proved to be tougher.

Mr Raju was grilled by a five-member team from the Sebi, led by Mr Sunil Kumar. Mr Raju’s counsel, Mr S. Bharat Kumar, was not allowed into the room. The questioning was primarily about alleged insider trading, sources said.

Sources said Mr Raju was mostly quizzed about transaction of Satyam shares in the last six months. It is learnt that Mr Raju answered most questions in the negative.

Jail officials said they provided a room with a table and few chairs for the exercise. According to sources, he was quizzed at the jail superintendent’s office. The questioning session began at 10.30 am and went on till evening with a one-hour lunch break thrown in.
Outside the jail, Mr Raju’s counsel, Mr S. Bharat Kumar, said the Sebi team had turned down his request to provide Mr Raju some documents. He said Mr Raju did not have documents to answer Sebi’s questions. He said they would question the validity of statements recorded by Sebi. It is learnt that Mr Raju was briefed by his defence lawyers on Tuesday on answering Sebi’s questions.

It is learnt that Mr Raju’s brother, Mr B. Rama Raju, will be interrogated on Thursday. Elsewhere, the two Pricewaterhouse officials, Mr S. Gopalakrishnan and Mr T. Srinivas were handed over to police custody at 10.30 am on Wednesday. The custody period will end at 4 pm on Thursday.