Bhatnagars, the promoters of Vadodara-based Diamond Power Infrastructure Limited (DPIL) have been remanded in CBI custody till April 27 for alleged bank fraud running into Rs 2,654 crore.
Suresh and his sons Amit and Sumit were arrested from Paras Mahal Hotel in Udaipur by the Anti-Terrorist Squad of Gujarat late on Tuesday night. The police then drove down with them to Ahmedabad and handed over the custody to the CBI.
On Wednesday, the CBI sought 14-day remand for the trio, but the CBI court granted custody till April 27.
The CBI sought to interrogate the trio in custody to know as to how they had projected a higher tunover in 2011. After showing higher tunover of around Rs 2,197 crore instead of the original Rs 1,267 crore, DPIL's credit facility was increased from Rs 285 crore to Rs 480 crore in 2012. They are believed to have fooled a consortium of 11 banks.
The investigating agency booked them under the Prevention of Corruption Act, apart from charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy and forgery.
According to sources, they stayed in Udaipur under the name “Vermas” to evade arrest. The trio had disappeared from Vadodara from April 10 after their anticipatory bail plea was rejected, even as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and other agency raided their offices. The CBI had sought Gujarat ATS' help in tracing them.
Appearing on behalf of the Bhatnagars, advocate Amit Nair submitted that Suresh Bhatnagar was 80-year-old and was suffering from age-related problems. He also said Suresh no longer held the position of director at DPIL.
The company was set up in 1970s, but sources in Vadodara said they made it big only about 15 years ago.
DPIL is a listed company on the BSE and NSE. The share prices have gone down ever since the alleged fraud came into light about a fortnight ago.