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CBI traces owner of cellphone Subramanyam used

Priya Ganapati in Bombay

The Central Bureau of Investigation has traced the owner of the cellphone that former chairman of UTI P S Subramanyam had used to make calls.

According to documents presented by the CBI before the special court in Bombay on Tuesday, the cellphone Subramanyam had used was subscribed in the name of one Darji.

It is not clear yet who Darji is or what is his role in the case. In its application before the court, the CBI has only said that Darji is absconding since August 4, when his identity was first discovered, and efforts are on to trace him.

Subramanyam is one of the accused in the Rs 320.8-million scam involving UTI and Cyberspace. He, along with UTI executive directors, S K Basu and M M Kapoor, is alleged to have invested in 3,45,000 shares of Cyberspace at Rs 930 per share, which resulted in a loss of Rs 320.8 million after the company went bust. Cyberspace has now become defunct and all trading in its shares has been frozen.

Subramanyam confessed to using the cellphone to make calls only on August 2. In its remand application submitted the next day, the CBI had said, "The particulars of the phone were not disclosed voluntarily, but as a sequel to examination of some important witnesses and after sustained interrogation."

The phone assumed significance as it was subscribed to under an unknown name, yet was used by Subramanyam to make a telephone calls. The CBI is now trying to trace who or why Subramanyam called from a phone that was owned by an unknown person.

The CBI has requested the phone company for details on the owner of the phone, the telephone numbers that were dialed and the identity of the recipients of the calls that originated from that phone.

On Tuesday, CBI pressed for extension of the judicial custody of Subramanyam citing the discovery of the phone and its owner as one of the reasons.

The CBI contended that Subramanyam would have to be in custody when the CBI was investigating the issue else there is a possibility that the owner of the phone would not come forward and other details of the investigation would not be unearthed.

However, S R Mehra, special judge hearing the case granted bail to Subramanyam and the other accused in the case, including Kapoor, Basu and Rakesh Mehta, director of Renaissance Securities.

Subramanyam's clandestine telephone calls have already raised a furore in the Parliament. A few days ago, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Nirupam, revealed that Subramanyam had made a few calls to the Prime Minister's office. Nirupam had demanded that the PMO clarify whether these calls had any connections with the Cyberspace deal.

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