India detains accountants in Satyam probe

New York: Price Waterhouse India, auditors of the troubled Indian outsourcing giant Satyam Computer Services Ltd., confirmed on Saturday that two of its partners have been detained by Indian police.

"We do not know the basis for them being detained," the accounting firm said in a statement. "Over the last (two weeks), the firm has fully cooperated in all inquiries and has provided the documents called for by the Indian authorities."

Satyam's founder and former chairman, B. Ramalinga Raju, confessed earlier this month to perpetrating a $1 billion fraud.

Price Waterhouse subsequently said its audit reports for the last eight years relied on potentially false data provided by Satyam and should be disregarded.

In its statement on Saturday, Price Waterhouse said it shares the Indian government's desire to understand the "full extent" of the fraud. It added it will continue to cooperate with authorities.

Price Waterhouse is part of the global PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd. network.