NSE Co-Location Scam: CBI Arrests Anand Subramanian, Former Advisor to Chitra Ramkrishna

New Delhi: Anand Subramanian, the man who could be none other than the ‘Himalayan yogi’ with whom former managing director and chief operating officer of NSE, Chitra Ramkrishna shared information, was on Thursday night arrested by CBI from his Chennai home.

Subramanian, former group operating officer (GOO) of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), was arrested in connection with its probe into a 2018 stock market manipulation case. He will be taken to CBI headquarters in Delhi and produced before a local court for custody, News18 reported.

Anand Subramanian was the chief strategic advisor from April 1, 2013. Later, he was re-designated as group operating officer (GOO) and advisor to Chitra Ramakrishna when she was managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) from April 01, 2015, till October 21, 2016.

 The federal police also interrogated former managing director and chief operating officer Chitra Ramkrishna and former chief operating officer Ravi Narain in the NSE co-location scam.

Sebi reported that Ramkrishna shared confidential NSE data and sought advice from an outsider she described as a ‘Himalayan yogi’ over the years. Ramkrishna — who quit as chief executive officer in 2016 — was “merely a puppet” of someone she described as an unnamed yogi in Himalayas who “would manifest at will”, according to the regulator.

Sebi also penalised Ramkrishna and a few others for allegedly violating securities contract rules in the appointment of Subramanian as GOO and advisor to the MD. The market regulator also said that the former CEO “arbitrarily” appointed Subramanian as her adviser, adding he had “no relevant experience”. The regulatory report also indicated that Anand Subramaniam was impersonating as the unknown ‘yogi’ and instructing Chitra regarding his salary and designation, the report added.