New Delhi, April 20: Tears and must-have accessories were shed in a Delhi courtroom today as five top telecom executives were denied bail and sent to Tihar jail in the spectrum allocation scandal.

The special court judge said there was incriminating evidence against the five accused, whose designations range from group president to managing director to senior vice-president. Among the companies the executives run are Reliance Telecom of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Unitech Wireless, which is a partner of Norwegian firm Telenor.

Bail was denied to them on the fear that “they may tamper with the evidence by trying to win over witnesses and that they may also flee from justice in view of the magnitude of the offence,” judge .P. Saini said in his 42-page order.

The judge also dismissed their pleas for interim bail and ordered that they be sent to judicial custody.

Some of the family members of the accused started sobbing in the courtroom. CBI officers asked the five corporate honchos to remove their accessories, including watches, high-end mobile phones, gold chains, wallets, belts and rings.

“I have already done it and given it to her,” Vinod Goenka, a director of Swan Telecom and the managing director of DB Realty, told a CBI officer, pointing towards his wife seated next to him.

To some relief of the family members, the court, however, allowed the accused to take outside food inside the jail for a day.

Friends and family then gave each of the five executives packets procured from a coffee chain at Connaught Place before they were taken to the court lock-up at 3pm. The five were taken to Tihar in a prison van after an hour.

The executives were not arrested during the probe into the case but were chargesheeted by the CBI along with former minister A. Raja, his two aides R.K. Chandolia and Siddhartha Behura, and Swan promoter Shahid Usman Balwa. All four are in judicial custody and were present in the court today.

Soon after the rejection of the bail pleas, Raja walked up to Goenka’s wife. “I am a politician and didn’t know this day will come. I am very sorry for you…” he told her and held her hand.

“It’s OK, sir. Let’s fight it out together,” she replied and Raja nodded his head vigorously.

Noticing this reporter, a relative of Goenka’s said: “Please allow us to have some private conversation now. We are already shattered.”

Raja then walked to Sanjay Chandra, the chairman and managing director of Unitech Wireless, who was sitting with his lawyers.

The former minister shook hands with Chandra and whispered something in his ear. “Sir, let us put our hands together now. We will fight it out,” a lawyer told Raja.

The executives had sought protection from arrest for the next seven days to make arrangements to manage their businesses in their absence.

Goenka’s counsel said his client was willing to be present the entire day on all seven days before the court and pleaded that he be granted bail for seven days.

But the judge cited the magnitude of the case to turn down the request.