The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested National Stock Exchange's (NSE) former Group Operating Officer (GOO) Anand Subramanian after he was interrogated about his role at the country's largest stock exchange.
Subramanian was held following the CBI's 2018 probe into a co-location scam and in connection with mails cited by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in its recent report on the issue that showed then CEO Chitra Ramkrishna corresponding with a “Himalayan yogi” over the management of the exchange.
The twist in the tale, said people familiar with the matter, was that evidence at his residence suggested that Subramanian may be the yogi himself. This appears to tie in with what NSE itself claimed to the stock market regulator, whose report also highlights that Subramanian’s appointment was irregular, as were the frequent and repeated increases in his salary.
Subramanian’s arrest, the first in the case, came after he was questioned for four days by the agency. A senior officer of the agency who asked not to be named said Subramanian was evasive during his interrogation. He was brought to Delhi on Friday afternoon.
CBI started investigating the case in 2018. The so-called co-location fraud surfaced when a whistle-blower alleged in 2015 that some NSE members were benefiting from advance information (because their servers were located on the exchange’s premises) in collusion with some exchange officials.
The fraud is believed to have happened between 2010 and 2014. SEBI also investigated the fraud, which, along with the circumstances surrounding Subramanian’s appointment and remuneration, forced the resignation of Ramkrishna, then CEO. Subramanian, whose wife (also an employee of NSE), is believed to be a close friend of Ramkrishna, was hired in 2013, soon after Ramkrishna took over as CEO.