The Securities and Exchange Board of India on Monday withdrew a press release it issued on September 4 blaming “external elements” for protests by its employees.

This came after demands by the employees that the statement be withdrawn, The Indian Express reported.

SEBI had issued the press release in response to a media report claiming that about 500 staffers had complained to the Centre in early August about “toxic” work culture.

The employees had also claimed that shouting and public humiliation were the norm in office meetings. “The situation is such that, let alone grade A-C officers, even officers in higher grades are afraid to attend meetings fearing for the unquestionably bad behaviour of people at the highest level,” they had said.

In the statement which was withdrawn on Monday, SEBI had said: “It is our belief that SEBI’s junior officers, who were in large numbers, originally aggrieved in respect of HRA [house rent] allowances, have been misguided by external elements to target credibility of SEBI and its leadership”.

On September 5, the staff held a protest demanding that the press release be withdrawn.

They had also sought the resignation of the market regulator’s chief Madhabi Puri Buch for “spreading lies against SEBI’s employees”, Moneycontrol had reported.

In a press release on Monday, the market regulator said that after discussions with representatives of officers across all grades, it had been “reaffirmed that such issues are strictly internal and will be managed in accordance with the organisation’s high standards of governance and within a time-bound framework”.

It added: “Employees have strongly condemned the unauthorised release of internal communication and have confirmed that all concerns shall be addressed amicably through established internal channels.”

The SEBI employees’ protest had come against the backdrop of allegations made by United States-based firm Hindenburg Research in August. The American short-seller claimed that Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had “hidden stakes” in offshore entities tied to alleged stock price manipulation and money-laundering by the Adani Group.

On September 5, the Opposition Congress demanded an independent inquiry into the allegations against Buch, saying that “lots of skeletons” were tumbling out of the cupboard of the market regulator.