‘Draped in national flag, Adani Group looted India’

US short seller Hindenburg Research on Monday rejected Adani Grouprsquos charge that its report was an attack on India saying a ldquofraudrdquo cannot be obfuscated by nationalism or a bloated response that ignored response to key allegationsCommenting on the 413page response Adani Group released late on Sunday evening in response to its report Hindenburg said it believed India was a vibrant democracy and an emerging superpower with an exciting future and it was Adani Group that was holding it back through ldquosystematic lootrdquoEven the Twitterati called out the Adani Group for equating the conglomerate to India Hindenburg stood by its last weekrsquos report that said its twoyear investigation found Adani Group ldquoengaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decadesrdquolsquoSensationalistic claimrsquoHindenburg said the response by the conglomerate run by Asiarsquos richest man Gautam Adani ldquoopened with the sensationalistic claim that we are the lsquoMadoffs of Manhattanrsquordquo Adani also claimed we have committed a ldquoflagrant breach of applicable securities and foreign exchange lawsrdquoldquoDespite Adanirsquos failure to identify any such laws this is another serious accusation that we categorically denyrdquo it said Adani Group had claimed the report was driven by ldquoan ulterior motiverdquo to ldquocreate a false marketrdquo to allow the US firm make financial gains by dragging stock prices downAlso Read Adani group stocks witness mixed trends in early trade Adani Enterprises jumps 10 per centlsquoA nationalist narrativersquoHindenburg responded saying Adani Group ldquopredictably tried to lead the focus away from substantive issues and instead stoked a nationalist narrativerdquo ldquoAdani Group has attempted to conflate its meteoric rise and the wealth of its Chairman Gautam Adani with the success of India itselfrdquo it saidldquoWe disagree To be clear we believe India is a vibrant democracy and an emerging superpower with an exciting future We also believe Indiarsquos future is being held back by Adani Group which has draped itself in the Indian flag while systematically looting the nationrdquoStating that a ldquofraud is fraud even when itrsquos perpetrated by one of the wealthiest individuals in the worldrdquo it said Adanirsquos lsquo413pagersquo response only included about 30 pages focused on issues related to the reportldquoThe remainder of the response consisted of 330 pages of court records along with 53 pages of highlevel financials general information and details on irrelevant corporate initiatives such as how it encourages female entrepreneurship and the production of safe vegetablesrdquo it saidThe report by the tiny New York firm which specialises in short selling has led to Adani Group losing billions in market value Adani Grouprsquos rebuttal failed to pacify investors driving stock market losses for the coaltoports group to almost 70 billion over three daysWill seek answers from Adani Group LICLife Insurance Corporation LIC on Monday said it will talk to Adani Grouprsquos management over the allegations against the conglomerate ldquoPresently there is a situation thatrsquos emerging and we are not sure what is the factual position Since we are a large investor we have the right to ask relevant questions and we will definitely engage with themrdquo LIC Managing Director Raj Kumar told ReutersCFO likens rout to Jallianwala massacreAdanirsquos finance chief Jugeshinder Singh likened the behaviour of Indian investors participating in the selloff to the colonialera Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar city On April 13 1919 a British officer ordered about 50 Indian Army soldiers to shoot at unarmed civilians participating in a peaceful protest killing at least 379 of them ldquoIn Jallianwala Bagh only one Englishman gave an order and Indians fired on other Indians So am I surprised by the behaviour of some fellow Indians Nordquo Singh told the Mint business daily in an interview published on Monday when asked why the market believed the Hindenburg reportTweet talkAdvaid HistorianAdvaidismA small reminder to Mr Gautam Adani Adani is not India and India is not Adani The Hindenberg report pointed fingers at Adani Group not India A great man once said ldquoPatriotism is the Last Refuge of the ScoundrelrdquoAli Khan Mahmudabad Assistant Prof of history political scienceMahmudabadThe real attack on India is by the Adani group which owes lakhs of crores in debt The real attack is on shareholders of LIC for eg whose money was liberally invested in Adani Think aboutThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever