India’s Essar Group has slashed its stake in Loop Telecom to 1.5 percent, the latter said in its affidavit to Supreme Court, amidst a probe by federal investigators into whether Essar’s owners hold more than a 10 percent stake in the rival operator, which is illegal under Indian telecoms law. Essar Group has a separate 33 percent stake in Vodafone Essar and Indian regulations do not permit any company to have more than 10 percent stake in two different mobile firms. The Economic Times reports that Essar Group CEO Prashant Ruia was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation recently in relation to the agency’s ongoing probe into the 2G spectrum scam. Loop claims that Essar had only a 2.5 percent stake in September 2007, when the operator had applied for pan-India mobile permits.