Probe into mid-cap stock crash to be completed soon: Sinha

NEW DELHI, Aug 4:

Sebi Chairman U K Sinha today said detailed investigations into the recent crash of mid-cap stocks would be completed fast and action would be taken against those found guilty of stock manipulation.

A day after Sebi barred 19 entities in an interim order in this matter, Sinha said: “On preliminary investigation, we found that things were not right. We have taken some action. Detailed investigation has been started. We are going through that”.

“We hope to complete the investigations fast and as soon as it is completed, we will be taking action,” Sinha told reporters here on the sidelines of a conference organised by PHD Chamber.

After initial probe into share plunge of 20-26 per cent in four mid-cap stocks—Parsvnath, Tulip Telecom, Glodyne Technoserve and Pipavav Defence—on July 26, Sebi last night barred 19 entities, including three individuals, from the securities market till further orders.

The 19 entities, many of whom are found to be related to each other with common addresses and phone numbers in Kolkata, include 4a Financials Securities, A To Z Steels, Ajit Kumar Jain, Cheminare TradeComm, G N Credits and Gajria Jayna Precision Industries.

Sebi had said a sharp downward movement was noticed in these stocks between 0915 and 0949 hours on that day. These stocks witnessed sharp intra-day price volume movement on both BSE and NSE on July 26, although no major corporate announcements or price sensitive information was disclosed to the exchanges by these companies during previous 15 days.

The others among the barred entities include Neelanchal Mercantile Pvt Ltd, North Eastern Publishing & Advertising Co, Passions System Solution, Premium Hospitality Services, Ramkripa Securities, Umang Nemani, Venus Infosoft, White Horse Trading Co and Yashika Holding Pvt Ltd.

These persons and entities can file their objections, if any, within 21 days from the date of this order, Sebi had said in the order dated August 3. (PTI)