“I bought 200 shares a couple of days ago, following the advice of a share broker. The share value was around Rs 40 and I think the company will be taken over by some other firm. Once the government puts the act together, a clear picture will evolve and the share value could go high,” opined chartered accountant Chandrashekara Yardi.

Ajay Laddha of Khantwala Securities Ltd confirmed that around 100 people approached him to buy Satyam shares on Friday, when it had touched the Rs 20 mark. “Most of them were senior people who have been into the share market for a long time. People are still buying Satyam shares, anticipating that once the government takes control everything will fall in order and the shares of the company will shoot up,” he explained.

Satyam employees are, however, not so hopeful. It was a similar thought process that had prompted many staff of Satyam, too, to go in for shares some weeks back but most regret that move today.

“There was talk about a possible hostile takeover of the company, which caused a dip in the share value. We were told that lot of insider trading was taking place and to support the firm, many employees did purchase shares. But I think I overreacted when I, along with my friend, purchased 2,000 shares with an investment of around Rs 3,50,000. But we haven't lost hope. The new board of directors being appointed by the government might turn things around,” said an employee. On the other hand, Satyam employees Adarsh and Rahul (names changed), who jointly purchased 1,000 shares, rue the fact that they had decided against selling their shares some time back, on the basis of advice from certain quarters. For former Merchant Navy officer Augusto, it was a power failure that prevented him from trading his shares online.

"I bought shares of Satyam a couple of weeks back when the company back-footed from the plan to buy Maytas. I thought it was good bet since it was one of the country's top IT companies and the share price had dipped to reach Rs 170. I was tempted to sell it when it touched Rs 800 but a power cut kept me away from trading online. Now I am stuck. I certainly don't want to trade my shares for Rs 20. I am waiting and closely watching what happens after the government takes control," said Augsto, who owns 400 Satyam shares. Computer Society of India (CSI) President Deepak Shikharpur, who himself bought a small number of shares, said that many shareholders from the city lost lakhs of rupees overnight after Satyam shares crumbled and were now wrenching their hands.