Stock broker stopped from fleeing country

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 27. Stock broker, Shankar Sharma, of the First Global Stock Broking Company and his wife, Devina Mehra, have been stopped by Income Tax authorities in Chennai from fleeing the country.

The activities of this broker and his firm are being scrutinised by official agencies and the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the stock market scam for his alleged role in bringing down the stock market in March this year. Shankar Sharma also had investments in Tehelka.com, which exposed alleged corruption in defence deals.

According to official sources, the broker and his wife were detained in Chennai late on Tuesday night as they were trying to catch a flight to London. Information with the Income Tax authorities indicated that the couple were going to leave India for good without paying the tax liability of Rs. 89 crores which might go up further as the final assessments are yet to be made.

Suspicion of the Income Tax authorities was raised since the couple had chosen a circuitous flight to London via Brussels where they were to change flights. Questioned by the Authorities as to why they had come to Chennai for the flight, the broker is understood to have said that he had come to wind up his office in the city.

But on verification, it was found that the company's Chennai office was non-functional since January and that the broker had not even visited the office during this trip.

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Section  : National
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