The Enforcement Directorate early on Tuesday morning arrested Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath's nephew Ratul Puri, the former executive director of Moser Baer, in a fresh case of Rs 354-crore bank loan fraud filed by the Central Bank of India.
The agency took the action after filing the money laundering case late on Monday night under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Puri and others based on the CBI's FIR of August 17.
Puri was arrested from his Delhi residence and was produced before a special court here. The ED sought 14-day police remand, but the judge said it will decide after hearing both the parties.
Puri was already under the scanner of the agency in connection with the high-profile AgustaWestland VVIP choppers corruption case and was facing a non-bailable warrant issued by a court after the ED submitted to it that the businessman might try to tamper with the evidence and influence witnesses "as he already did earlier".
The Delhi HC, however, had on August 14 granted interim him protection from arrest till Tuesday. The HC on Tuesday dismissed his anticipatory bail plea.
The latest case emerges from the CBI FIR of August 17, where Ratul, his father Deepak Puri, MD of Moser Baer, mother Nita (Nath's sister) and others were booked. The CBI had also carried out multiple searches in pursuance of this FIR on Sunday.
