Essar tappings: 'Shocked' Reliance says it wants full probe in case

Reliance Group on Saturday said it was "shocked" at reports referring to illegal tapping of phones of some of its executives and expected authorities to fully probe the matter to bring the guilty to book at the earliest.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Anil Ambani-led group said they were "shocked" to see the reports about the so-called tapes referring to "completely illegal and criminal tapping of phones of some individuals in our group, allegedly done by vested interests more than 10-15 years ago, in the period prior to the reorganisation of the Reliance Group." Certain news reports have claimed that a corporate house had tapped phones of ministers and industrialists, among others.

"We suspect that the purported conversations, as referred to in the media, must have been spliced, altered, doctored and manipulated to serve the heinous interests of those who engaged in the alleged illegal phone tapping operations. We have at all times fully complied with the laws of the land in all our business activities, and to suggest otherwise is criminally defamatory," the Reliance Group spokesperson said.

The statement further said the group expects "the authorities to fully investigate these allegations of illegal phone tapping by highly irresponsible and criminally minded persons, and to bring the guilty parties to book at the earliest."

On Friday night, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries group had also issued a statement, terming the conversations attributed to its officials in these tapes as "false" and also of legal action against such "sensationalism".

"We are shocked at reports which suggest that we have been victims of unauthorised and illegal tapping of our telephones. Conversations attributed to us are false and appear to have been doctored by someone who seeks to defame us", an RIL spokesperson had said.