Sucheta Dalal's Tweet Goes Viral After Adani Shares Plunge: Here's What Happened

Is there a link between a tweet by Sucheta Dalal and Adani stocks' big plunge to the lower circuits? Twitter fired up in debate Monday after a two-day-old tweet by the senior business journalist took on new meanings after stock market action.

Prominent for uncovering the 1992 Harshad Mehta stock market manipulation, Dalal is one of India's leading and most reliable voices in finance journalism.

Therefore, a cryptic tweet by her from June 12, which hinted at alleged price rigging of one group, has raised eyebrows two days later when reports of Adani Group's value falling by 5-25 percent began doing rounds. More on the story here.

Why Twitter Alleges A Connection Between Remark By Sucheta Dalal And Adani Stocks Crash

1. "Another scandal hard to prove outside the black box of information available with SEBI tracking systems is the return of an operator of the past who is relentlessly rigging prices of one group. All through foreign entities! His speciality & that of a former FM. Nothing changes!" Dalal tweeted two days ago. See below:

Another scandal hard to prove outside the black box of information available with SEBI tracking systems is the return of an operator of the past who is relentlessly rigging prices of one group. All through foreign entities! His speciality & that of a former FM. Nothing changes!

— Sucheta Dalal (@suchetadalal) June 12, 2021

2. Dalal also tagged Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy on the thread. Swamy is routinely vocal against "trapeze artist" Gautam Adani, whose group he accused in January of having outstanding NPA loans worth Rs 4.5 lakh crore. Adani in a statement had refuted Swamy's claims.

3. Adani shares plunged June 14 after National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) froze the accounts of three foreign investors funding money to the Group. Albula Investment Fund, Cresta Fund and APMS Investment Fund reportedly hold Rs 43,500 crore in four Adani companies.

4. As per Economic Times, the accounts were frozen on or before May 31 reportedly over insufficient disclosure of information under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Adani Ports, Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, Adani Green Energy, Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission have reportedly been affected.

5. While Adani shares fell approximately a fortnight after the reported freezing of funds, the fall is much closer in timing to Dalal's tweet, leading netizens to make a connection between the two. Many demanded an investigation into the knowledge behind the journalist's tweet, alleging another stock market scam. There has been no further word from Dalal on the matter since.