Businessman Ratul Puri is the nephew of Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath. (File/Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Wednesday arrested Ratul Puri, the nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in a money laundering case in relation with the AgustaWestland chopper scam.
Today’s arrest comes a day after he was remanded to judicial custody on Tuesday in a separate money laundering case relating to an alleged bank loan fraud. Puri was produced before a Delhi court as a production warrant had been issued against him.
Puri has been further remanded to one-day judicial custody by the court today and scheduled the next hearing of the case on Thursday. The court is likely to hear the probe agency’s plea seeking Puri’s custodial interrogation in the VVIP chopper scam.
The businessman earlier seeking cancellation of the non-bailable warrant issued against him had told a Delhi court that he was willing to join the probe in the case.
The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the purchase of 12 VVIP choppers from Italy-based Finmeccanica’s British subsidiary, AgustaWestland. The deal was scrapped by the NDA government in 2014 over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of payment of kickbacks for securing the deal.
