Capoor in Calcutta on Thursday. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury

Calcutta, Jan. 22: Investigations by multiple agencies into the Satyam scam may not be an ideal approach to nab the culprits, BSE chairman Jagdish Capoor said today.

“I am not sure if simultaneous investigations by a number of agencies are the best way to bring out the truth,” Capoor said at an interactive session of the Indian Chamber of Commerce here today.

“With so many agencies involved, they will not be able to avoid stepping on each other’s toe. Further, the seizure of records and documents by multiple agencies will also delay the investigation,” he said.

BSE chief executive officer M.L. Soneji said the bourse was studying the trading pattern of the Satyam stock between December 16 and January 7 to detect irregularities. “We cannot say right now whether there was insider trading. It needs investigation at the client level, which we’re doing now.”

On December 16, Satyam Computer Services stunned the markets and analysts with an audacious $1.6-billion acquisition of Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra Ltd — two companies owned by the family of Satyam founder B. Ramalinga Raju. On January 7, Raju resigned from the company and admitted to fudging accounts.

Soneji declined to give any time frame for the investigation. All the findings would be shared with market regulator Sebi.

On December 17, Satyam’s stock price fell to Rs 153.80 on the BSE from the previous day’s close of Rs 226.50.