NSE phone tapping case: Former Mumbai CP Sanjay Pandey sent to ED custody till August 2

New Delhi, July 29: A Delhi court on Friday extended by four days the custodial interrogation of former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal phone tapping and snooping of national stock exchange (NSE) employees.

Special Judge Rakesh Kumar passed the order on an application of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after the accused was produced before the court on the expiry of his earlier nine-day ED custody.

"Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and also for fair investigations, in the interest of justice, the police custody remand of the accused Sanjay Pandey is extended till August 2," the judge said.

The court allowed ED to quiz Pandey further, after the agency's Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta said his interrogation was required to decipher the entire money trail and to further determine his role as well as that of various other persons who facilitated the offence of money laundering and to determine the entire modus operandi employed for the generation of proceeds of crime and projection thereof as licit payment for 'Periodic Study of Vulnerabilities' of NSE.

In its application, the probe agency claimed that it has confronted Pandey with various e-mail communications made by/with him and a large number of such communications for the period of offence have been collected and are being analysed which is a time-consuming exercise and is being carried out in the right earnest and some more such communications may be required to be confronted with him.

Counsel for the accused opposed the application, saying that sufficient time was already given to ED to interrogate him and no fruitful purpose will be served by further extending the police custody of the accused.

The ED had sought five days more custody of Pandey in the case.

Pandey was arrested by the investigating agency on July 19 in the case.

ED had earlier arrested former NSE MD Chitra Ramakrishnan on July 14 after conducting her interrogation after taking permission from the court, where she was produced from jail on an order passed by the judge earlier.

The judge had issued a production warrant against Ramakrishnan on a plea moved by the ED.

After she was produced, the ED had taken permission from the court to interrogate her.

Later, the ED arrested Ramakrishnan on the ground of non-cooperation and again produced her before the court and urged for her nine-day custodial interrogation.

The court, however, had granted her four-day custody to the agency.

Ramakrishnan was arrested by the CBI in a separate case and was currently in judicial custody.