Illegal phone tapping case: CBI files FIR against Mumbai's former police chief

New Delhi, July 8: The CBI has registered an FIR against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey and former MD and CEO of NSE Chitra Ramkrishna for the alleged illegal phone tapping of the stock market employees by the former's Information Technology company, officials said on Friday.

The CBI action comes following a complaint from the Union Home Ministry, they said.

In addition to Pandey and Ramkrishna, who is in judicial custody in connection with NSE co-location scam, the CBI has also named another former National Stock Exchange (NSE) CEO and MD Ravi Narain in the case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting searches at 20 locations in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Kota, Lucknow, Chandigarh and other cities in connection with the FIR against Pandey, officials said.

It is alleged that iSec Securities Pvt. Ltd, one firm amongst a few others that conducted a security audit of NSE had illegally tapped phones of NSE employees during 2009-17, the CBI said.

The company had done audit around the time the co-location irregularities are alleged to have taken place.

The company was incorporated by Pandey in March 2001 and he quit as its director in May 2006. His son and mother later took charge.

The police officer, who studied at IIT-Kanpur and Harvard University, is understood to have established the company after he resigned from service. His resignation was not accepted by the state government and he rejoined but was not immediately given a posting. He was made Mumbai Police Commissioner during the MVA government headed by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.