By R. Jai Krishna
NEW DELHI--India's top investigation agency late Wednesday
arrested Rajesh Agarwal and Manish Tuli, founders of handset
company Micromax Informatics Ltd., in connection with a corruption
case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation alleges that Mr. Agarwal and
Mr. Tuli offered a bribe of 3 million rupees ($49,094) to local
officials, who have also been arrested.
Three officials from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and one
from the Delhi Development Authority had demanded 5 million rupees
for "granting regularization in an improper manner" for a banquet
hall in Delhi, CBI said in a statement.
The officials and Micromax's founders were arrested when handing
over a portion of that demand. "The CBI laid a trap and arrested
the accused persons along with bribe money."
The agency didn't name the officials.
The CBI also searched 15 places including the residences of the
arrested officials. It found 4 million rupees at one official's
house, and 3 million rupees at another's.
"Further investigation is in progress," CBI said.
New Delhi-based Micromax Informatics didn't provide an immediate
comment.
Micromax makes and sells handsets and other mobile devices such
as dongles and tablet computers in 14 countries.
It ranked second in terms of smartphone sales for the first
quarter of this year with an 18.8% market share, behind Samsung
Electronics Co. Ltd. (005930.SE), according to researcher IDC.
Micromax is backed by Sequoia Capital LLC, Madison Capital Corp.
(MDC.P.V), Sandstone Capital LLC and Spreadtrum Communications Inc.
(SPRD).
Write to R. Jai Krishna at krishna.jai@wsj.com
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