MUMBAI: A Kathmandu based media company, Space Time Network, on Tuesday denied reports that it had any links with underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim who is wanted in India for acts of terrorism and other crimes.

The Indian government has asked Nepal to probe STN's association with Dawood and provide details about the media network, which used to run a newspaper and now runs a cable TV channel as well as a news channel. Said STN general manager Mohan Bhakta Mathema: "We used to bring out an English daily between 2001 and 2003. Operations folded up a year ago because of a financial crisis."

"STN has no connection with Dawood. It is owned entirely by a Nepali, Jamim Shah. We submit our financial statements to the government for scrutiny every year, and the audit is done by a registered chartered accountant," Mr Mathema told IANS in Mumbai.

Had it been associated with the underworld don, he said, it would have not only kept the newspaper afloat but would have flourished. "But today we are in deep financial crisis and in a bad shape."

"This is not the first time that accusations have been levelled against us. There were reports earlier too. It is a norm in Nepal that whenever a newspaper is facing a crisis, there are misleading reports about it," Mr Mathema added. "In the last 10 years of our operations, there has been no foreign investment," he insisted.

Associate editor Rajan Sharma said that if Dawood Ibrahim had anything to do with the company, the staff would have been paid salary for the last six months. The Indian embassy in Nepal had sent a note to the Nepalese foreign ministry last month saying that "India has credible information that Dawood has invested in Space Time Network." -By arrangement with Asian Age/New Delhi