ED arrests Ratul Puri in Rs 354 crore bank fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday arrested Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's nephew Ratul Puri, the former Executive Director of Moser Baer, in connection with a Rs 354-crore bank fraud case filed by Central Bank of India, an agency official said.

The CBI had booked Puri and others in connection with the bank fraud case, officials said on Sunday.

The ED's action came three days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against Puri, his company, his father and Managing Director Deepak Puri, Directors Nita Puri (Ratul's mother and Kamal Nath's sister), Sanjay Jain and Vineet Sharma for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption.

The CBI on Sunday had also carried out searches at six locations, including the residences and offices of the accused directors.

Ratul had resigned from the post of Executive Director in 2012, while his parents continued to be on the board, the bank had said in a statement.

The company is involved in the manufacture of optical storage media like compact discs, DVDs, solid state storage devices.

The company was taking loans from various banks since 2009 and went for debt restructuring a number of times, the bank has alleged in the complaint which is now part of the CBI FIR.