Kolkata-based Industrialist Pawan Ruia, who owns Dunlop Tyres, has been arrested by CID, West Bengal in connection with a forgery complaint filed by Indian Railways.
According to CID sleuths, Ruia was arrested from Delhi on Friday night. “We have initiated a forgery case of Rs 50 crore based on the complaints of Railways,” said B.L. Meena, DIG, CID.
Railways had lodged the complaint a few weeks back saying that it had supplied equipment to the tune of Rs 50 crore to Jessop Industries, also owned by Ruia, to build around 55 railway coaches. But, Ruia did not hand over the coaches in time and told the railways that the equipment had all gone missing from his factory.
“He said that the equipments were all stolen,” said a senior railway officer from Eastern Railway.
The complaint was earlier lodged with the Dum Dum police station, as the Jessop factory is located at Dum Dum. Later Mamata Banerjee government transferred the case to CID, West Bengal.
CID had summoned Ruia time and again to depose before them. But Ruia refused to appear saying he did not have any role in the theft.
Jessop Industries sources told THE WEEK that the matter was sub-judice and Ruia had appealed against the complaint of Railways.
In 2004, Ruia took over the Jessop from government of India. In 2005 the company took over the Dunlop Tyre factory as well.
He received full support from then left front government and was known to be close to then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Around 1,500 employees lost job after Ruia ordered suspension of work in 2014.
Mamata Banerjee had pressurised Ruia to sell off Dunlop factory and accused him of being close to CPI-M. But Ruia refused to budge. On Friday night, a team of CID officials left for Delhi and arrested him from his house at South Delhi. He would be produced before the court on Saturday and have been booked under non-bailable sections of IPC.
