AHMEDABAD/VADODARA: Promoters of Vadodara-based
Diamond Power Infrastructure Ltd (DPIL), who are accused of defrauding a consortium of banks of Rs 2,654 crore, were arrested from Udaipur on Tuesday evening.
Senior CBI officials confirmed to TOI that DPIL founder
Suresh Bhatnagar and his sons -
Amit Bhatnagar, the managing director and
Sumeet Bhatnagar, the joint managing director — were being brought to Gandhinagar. The operation was jointly carried out by
Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the CBI following a specific tip-off about their location.
Sources said that the three were living in Udaipur's Paras Mahal Hotel since April 10. ATS sources said that during preliminary probe they got to know that the Bhatnagars were planning to flee India. They are likely to reach CBI Gandhinagar office by 5am on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, the CBI had approached a special court in Ahmedabad and requested it to declare DPIL promoters as absconders. CBI officials approached special CBI judge N G Dave and urged for proclamation order under Section 82 of the CrPC, which could pave way the for attachment of their properties under Section 83 of the CrPC.
CBI had wanted Bhatnagars declared absconders
After registering an FIR against the trio on April 6, the CBI had issued a notice under Section 41A of the CrPC asking the accused persons to appear before the investigators, giving them a chance to explain their position regarding nonrepayment of loans and alleged financial irregularities. However, none turned up in response to the notice.
Its is alleged that DPIL fraudulently availed credit facilities from a consortium of 11 banks (both public and private) from 2008, leading to outstanding debt of Rs 2,654 crore as of June 29, 2016. The company allegedly submitted false stock statements to the lead bank treating “receivables more than 180 days” (non-current assets) as ‘less than 180 days (current assets) to get more drawing power in the cash credit accounts.
CBI sources alleged that DPIl extensively utilized cash credit limits for obtaining a large number of letters of credit, and many of them could not be honoured by the company and were thus “forced changes” on the credit limits.
Earlier on Tuesday the
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) approached a special court here on Tuesday and requested it to declare promoters of Diamond Power Infrastructure Ltd (DPIL) as absconders in connection with the probe in the alleged Rs 2,654 crore bank fraud.
CBI officials approached special CBI judge N G Dave and urged for proclamation that Amit Bhatnagar, his brother Sumit and father Suresh are absconding. If CBI gets the proclamation order under Section 82 of the CrPC, it may pave way for attachment of their properties under Section 83 of the CrPC.
Earlier, after registering an FIR against the trio for allegedly defrauding 11 banks of Rs 2,654 crore, CBI issued a notice under Section 41A of the CrPC asking the accused persons to appear before the investigators giving them a chance to explain their position regarding non-repayment of loans and alleged monitory irregularities. However, none turned up in response to the notice.
Instead, the Bhatnagars approached the court and sought anticipatory bail claiming they have not committed any fraud and none of the banks has filed a complaint against them.
