Videocon shares slide amid 2G probe

Shares of Videocon Industries fell by over 3 per cent in early trade on the BSE on Tuesday after Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot and his brother and Rajya Sabha MP Rajkumar Dhoot were questioned by the CBI in connection with the probe into allocation of spectrum in 2008.

Extending its three-day losing streak, shares of the consumer electronics major slipped by 3.51 per cent to an early low of Rs 186.70 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). In the previous trading session, the stock fell to a 52-week low of Rs 180.30.

Edgy investors abandoned Videocon's counter at the National Stock Exchange as well, where it plummeted by 4.31 per cent to a low of Rs 185.25.

Venugopal Dhoot and Rajkumar Dhoot were called to CBI headquarters yesterday and confronted with documents proving that Datacom Solutions -the company through which Videocon bagged 2G licences -falsely reported that it had paid-up capital of Rs 150 crore at the time of submitting a bid, whereas it was just Rs 1 lakh.

The duo were questioned as part of the CBI's ongoing interrogation of the heads of all nine companies that were allocated spectrum in 2008. Videocon was allocated start-up spectrum of 4.4 MHz in all circles, except Delhi.

Meanwhile, the BSE sensitive index Sensex was trading at 18,364.80, down by 73.51 points, at 1117 hours.