New Delhi, December 17
Mr Shankar Sharma and his wife Devina Mehra, directors of stockbroking firm First Global, which holds 14.5 per cent stake in Tehelka.com, were today picked up by sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), reportedly for questioning in connection to alleged FERA violations.

The couple were picked up around 6 a.m. from the residence of Devina’s mother at Chittaranjan Park in South Delhi, sources said.

The couple were taken to Lok Nayak Bhavan office of the Enforcement Directorate, where they were said to have been denied access to their lawyers.

“They were picked up at 6 a.m. and have been denied access to lawyers in violation of the law,” the couple’s lawyer Rani Jethmalani told The Tribune.

“I was prevented from entering the Lok Nayak Bhavan by Enforcement Directorate personnel...It is virtually an arrest as access to the counsel has been denied,” she claimed.

Efforts to get in touch with Enforcement Directorate officials, to get their version, went in vain.

Meanwhile, Tehelka.com Executive Editor Tarun Tejpal has accused the government agencies of “continuing their witch-hunt against First Global” for its investment in his portal that created a political storm in March with an expose on corruption in defence deals. “Perhaps, they will try to get a confessional statement from Shankar and Devina,” Mr Tejpal said.

Sleuths of the ED had carried out raids on First Global’s Mumbai-based offices and residences of some of the employees. Following the raids, Mr Sharma had said First Global received more than 200 summons from various government agencies, including the Income Tax Department, since the release of the Tehelka videotapes.