Developer Mukesh Bhagtani detained in Abu Dhabi

MUMBAI: A month after nabbing developer Laxman Bhagtani in Abu Dhabi, the UAE Interpol has now detained his son, Mukesh Bhagtani, on the basis of a red corner notice (RCN). The RCN was issued by the Mumbai economic offences wing (EOW) police. The father-son duo are accused in over half a dozen housing fraud cases amounting to Rs 427 crore.
Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB), Abu Dhabi, alerted its Indian counterparts about Mukesh's detention on August 10. An RCN was issued against Mukesh (40), director of the JVPD Properties Ltd, in November 2018. The Bhagtanis collected money from 2,500 home buyers and did not deliver flats. Later, cheating cases were registered against them.
The Mumbai police will now send an extradition proposal as per Article 8 of the Extradition Treaty. The EOW has last week already sent a 1,697-page extradition proposal to the Interpol and ministry of home affairs (MHA) to bring back Laxman Bhagtani to Mumbai. While the proposal for Laxman Bhagtani's extradition contains information about eight cases he is facing, the EOW will have to send a fresh proposal for Mukesh’s extradition. Mukesh's brother, Dipesh Bhagtani, was earlier arrested by the Mumbai EOW and charge sheets were filed against him.
The buyers have been waiting for their flats since 2014. The police have frozen 125 bank accounts belonging to the Bhagtanis and their two firms, JVPD Properties Ltd and Jaycee Homes Pvt Ltd.