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Eerie silence at UTI head office, operations grind to a halt

BS Markets Bureau

Trading operations at the Unit Trust of India headquarters on Sir Vithaldas Thackersey Marg at New Marine Lines in Bombay remained halted on Friday as nobody was willing to conduct business amidst the gloom cast by the Central Bureau of Investigation raids on the fourth and fifth floor offices of the top brass.

An official waiting at the ground floor lobby said the raids were mounted to "convey an impression of action ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament which begins on Monday."

None of the senior trust executives responded to telephone calls even as security personnel blocked reporters from entering the building.

Repeated attempts to contact the top three UTI officials proved futile as all of them had switched off their cellphones. Regular calls at former UTI chairman P S Subramanyam's residence only yielded a 'he is not at home' reply.

UTI's official spokesperson executive director B G Daga was away in Chennai. "I am hearing this (the news of raids) from you. I can only react to it when I go back to Mumbai," he told Business Standard.

UTI chairman M Damodaran was also not available for comment. Till late Friday night, he was not available at the UTI's guest house in south Bombay, though sources in New Delhi said he had already left for Bombay during the day.

Media persons were not allowed to enter the premises of Maker Tower A in Cuffe Parade, South Mumbai, where Subramanyam resides. Security personnel resorted to a mild lathi-charge to keep journalists at bay.

The raids at the UTI office continued till the time of filing this report (9 pm). Most of the senior executives of the fund had left office by this time.

Only two Maruti Esteems belonging to executive directors B S Pandit and D S R Murthy were parked outside. Senior-most executive director K G Vassal was seen leaving office at around 5.30 pm, so was chief general manager S S Nayak.

The instruction left with the secretaries was 'he is busy in a meeting.' By late Friday evening, the reply changed to 'he has left for home', while calls made to their homes met with a stock reply 'not yet back from office. May be on his way.'

One CBI official said the agency had sealed the offices of both the executive directors -- Basu and Kapoor. UTI insiders find in the entire episode a conspiracy to curb the role of the organisation which, in turn, will work out to the advantage of the foreign institutional investors.

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