Kolkata: A city court on December 12 rejected bail of former president of Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE) Dinesh Kumar Singhania and extended his police custody till December 16 for alleged involvement in defrauding Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited of Rs 24.50 crore.

Singhania was initially arrested on November 20 in connection with last year's Rs 120 crore scam at the Calcutta Stock Exchange and was charged in this case on December 3.

The chief metropolitan magistrate S C Misra also rejected bail of two other accused, Ashok Kumar Poddar and Pradeep Khemka, arrested on November 28 in connection with the scam and remanded them to judicial custody till December 24.

Police sought remand of Singhania on the basis of statements made by senior CSE officials, including former executive director Tapas Datta that he had allegedly conspired to artificially jack up prices of "illiquid" shares to dupe the Exchange and investors.

According to the prosecution, Singhania was allegedly a party in defrauding the bank as two of his companies Arihant Credit and Doe Jones had received certain benefits from alleged irregularities committed by stockbroker Harish Chander Biyani in collaboration with Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited's former chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) B V Gaud.

The prime accused in the case, DSQ Software managing director Dinesh Dalmia, who allegedly conspired with Biyani, Dinesh Singhania and Gaud leading to a loss of over Rs 24.50 crore to SHCIL, was absconding.

PTI