Founder's arrest makes DB Realty crash

Shares of DB Realty nosedived by nearly 20 per cent in early trade on the BSE today, following the arrest of the company's founder by the CBI on Tuesday in connection with the 2G spectrum scam, triggering a massive sell-off by jittery investors.

Dynamix Balwas (DB) Group Managing Director Shahid Usman Balwa was arrested last night from his Mumbai residence in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

Reacting sharply to the development, shares of the realty firm plummeted by 19.98 per cent to a record low of Rs 109.70 apiece, hitting the lower circuit on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Witnessing a similar slide on the National Stock Exchange, the DB Realty counter plunged by 19.98 per cent to Rs 109.30 in the morning trade.

The arrest of Balwa comes two days before the 2G case comes up for hearing in the Supreme Court.

He will be produced before a magistrate today for transit remand to Delhi, the sources said.

The promoter of DB Realty reportedly sold a 45 per cent stake in Swan Telecom to UAE-based Etisalat in 2009 after bagging a 2G spectrum licence. The company was later renamed Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt Ltd.

According to sources, Balwa allegedly helped former Telecom Minister A Raja and some of his aides park the money in the real estate sector.

Balwa is the fourth person to be arrested in the 2G spectrum case after Raja, his former personal secretary R K Chandolia and former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura.

Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex was down 91.75 points at 17,683.95 in early trade on Friday.