Connect with us
Tuesday,04-November-2025
Breaking News

Business

Mastermind Of ₹1,500 Crore, SMS Stock Tip Scam Hanif Shekh Flees India

Published

on

A market manipulator wanted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), who is responsible for one of the largest ‘pump-and-dump’ stock market operations of the past four years, is suspected to have fled India, according to officials.

Hanif Shekh, mastermind of a ₹1,500 crore SMS stock tip scam, has flown the coop while small investors are left with worthless penny stocks. Shekh’s social media account reveals he is enjoying the high life in Dubai.

“The racket involved sending bulk SMSes and circulation of stock tips through websites to attract gullible investors and dumping the holdings through multiple front entities once the scrips caught the fancy of the investors,” a SEBI official said.

Fake SMS IDs used to send bulk ‘buy’ recommendations to attract small investors

Investigations have revealed that Shekh created fake SMS IDs resembling those of prominent equity broking companies, such as Zerodha and ICICI Securities, to send bulk phone messages with ‘buy’ recommendations to entice small investors, while entities connected to him dumped shares in the market.

An order passed by SEBI official SK Mohanty on June 19 has estimated that Shekh made illegal gains to the tune of ₹144 crore by manipulating just five stocks.

The SEBI order links Shekh with several entities dabbling in stocks, including Mauria Udyog, 7NR Retail, GBL Industries and Darjeeling Ropeway Co. He has also been named in manipulating scrips including Leading Leasing Finance and Investment, Agrophos India Pvt Ltd, VB Industries Pvt Ltd.

SEBI alerted after it received complaints from investors online

SEBI was alerted about the racket when it received several investor complaints on its online grievance platform.

The regulator’s initial investigation suggested that the scam involved stock tips through bulk SMSes, which led SEBI to 226 entities linked to Shekh with multiple bank accounts and fund transfers in Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Kolkata. SEBI also recovered SMS compilations, forex bills, trading logs, Gmail links, and call data records with links to promoters of the small companies.

The investigation identified Kasambhai Shekh, Hasina Kasambhai Shekh, Robert Resources, Econo Trade India, Econo Broking (formerly Bansal Finstock) and Sai Metaltech among those directly linked to Shekh.

Shekh’s social media profile describes him as an entrepreneur, private equity and start-up investor, green-ship recycler at Alang Port and managing director of Econo Broking.

SEBI had in November 2022 fined Shekh ₹7 lakh for evading summons multiple times and recovery of some penalties levied against the economic offender is still pending.

Business

Indian Hotels clocks 48.6 pc drop in Q2 net profit to Rs 285 crore

Published

on

Mumbai, Nov 4: Tata Group’s hospitality arm, Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), on Tuesday reported a 48.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) drop in net profit to Rs 285 crore for the quarter ended September 2025 (Q2 FY26).

The company had posted a profit of Rs 555 crore in the same quarter last financial year (Q2 FY25), according to its stock exchange filing.

Despite the fall in profit, IHCL’s revenue from operations rose 11.8 per cent to Rs 2,040.8 crore, compared with Rs 1,826 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

The company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) also showed improvement, rising 14.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 572 crore from Rs 501 crore a year ago.

The EBITDA margin improved slightly to 28 per cent, compared with 27.4 per cent in the same quarter last financial year.

On the market front, IHCL shares ended at Rs 743.75 on the BSE, down Rs 3.30 or 0.44 per cent on Tuesday.

Over the last five days, the stock gained Rs 2.35 or 0.32 per cent, while in the past month, it rose Rs 20.65 or 2.85 per cent.

However, over a longer period, the stock has faced some pressure. In the last six months, IHCL shares fell Rs 57.60 or 7.18 per cent, and on a year-to-date (YTD) basis, they are down Rs 129.40 or 14.81 per cent.

Still, over the past one year, the stock has gained Rs 77.65 or 11.65 per cent.

The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) is South Asia’s biggest hospitality group. It was founded in 1903 by Jamsetji Tata, who started it with the opening of The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai.

The company is best known for its Taj hotels and its unique culture called “Tajness,” which combines Indian tradition with modern hospitality.

Today, IHCL runs more than 550 hotels across four continents and focuses on being both innovative and sustainable.

Continue Reading

Business

Centre to launch third round of PLI scheme for specialty steel

Published

on

New Delhi, Nov 4: The government was set to launch the third round of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for Specialty Steel on Tuesday, which is one of the key initiatives under the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision.

The PLI 1.2 launch will be presided over by Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, in the presence of senior officials, and other stakeholders from the sector, according to Ministry of Steel.

The ministry said that the PLI Scheme for Specialty Steel, approved by the Union Cabinet in July 2021 with an overall outlay of Rs 6,322 crore, aims to transform India into a global hub for production of high-value and advanced steel grades.

The PLI scheme has attracted a committed investment of Rs 43,874 crore so far, with Rs 22,973 crore already invested and over 13,000 jobs created under the first two rounds.

The scheme covers 22 product sub-categories including super alloys, CRGO, alloy forgings, stainless steel (long and flat), titanium alloys, and coated steels.

Incentive rates range from 4 per cent to 15 per cent, applicable for five years starting FY 2025–26, with disbursal beginning in FY 2026–27.

The base year for pricing has also been updated to FY 2024–25 to better reflect current trends.

The PLI scheme incentivises incremental production and investment in identified product categories, thereby enhancing value addition within the country and reducing import dependence in critical sectors such as defence, power, aerospace and infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the country aims to achieve 300 million tonnes of crude steel production capacity by 2030. Notably, India’s domestic steel demand is growing at an impressive 11-13 per cent, fuelled by large-scale infrastructure projects, while global demand faces a slowdown, according to Steel Ministry.

Steel production surged by a robust 14.1 per cent in September compared to the same month of the previous year on the back of increased demand from big-ticket infrastructure projects being carried out by the government.

Continue Reading

Business

Indian stock markets end higher after two days of losses

Published

on

Mumbai, Nov 3: Indian equity markets ended a volatile session on a positive note on Monday, snapping a two-day losing streak.

Gains in real estate and state-owned bank stocks helped lift the indices despite early weakness.

After opening lower, the Sensex recovered to touch an intra-day high of 84,127 before closing 39.78 points, or 0.05 per cent, higher at 83,978.49.

The Nifty also gained 41.25 points, or 0.16 per cent, to end at 25,763.35.

“The Nifty oscillated between 25,700 and 25,800 through the day, showing resilience after briefly dipping below the October 24 low of 25,718,” analysts said.

“The zone between 25,660–25,700 once again acted as a strong demand pocket, helping the index recover intraday losses and maintain a constructive tone ahead of key global data releases,” they added.

Among the Sensex stocks, Maruti Suzuki fell over 3 per cent and was among the top losers along with Titan Company, BEL, TCS, ITC, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel and tech Mahindra.

On the other hand, Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, and HCL Tech were the major gainers.

In the broader markets, the Nifty MidCap index rose 0.77 per cent, while the Nifty SmallCap index advanced 0.72 per cent, showing strength beyond the frontline stocks.

Among sectoral indices, PSU bank shares led the rally, with the Nifty PSU Bank index climbing 1.92 per cent.

Bank of Baroda surged 5 per cent, while Canara Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, and Indian Bank also gained.

The Nifty Metal and Realty indices also added up to 2 per cent each.

Meanwhile, the FMCG, Private Bank, and IT indices slipped up to 0.4 per cent, capping the market’s overall gains.

Analysts said that despite mixed global cues and cautious investor sentiment, buying in select sectors helped the markets end the day in the green.

“The domestic market ended on a marginal positive note as profit booking was visible at the higher levels due to the absence of fresh domestic triggers,” market watchers said.

“While the broader market outperformed since the quarterly earnings are steering investors’ preference to take a short- to medium-term view,” they mentioned.

Continue Reading

Trending