I have no connection with arrested nephew’s business, says MP CM Kamal Nath
Ratul Puri, who was arrested on Tuesday, is being investigated by the three main central probe agencies, the Enforcement Directorate, the CBI and the Income Tax department
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday said he had no connection with the business of his nephew Ratul Puri, who was arrested in the morning over allegations of swindling a state-run bank.
“To start with I have no connection with the business they are doing. I am neither a shareholder, nor a director,” Kamal Nath told reporters in Bhopal.
“To me it appears to be purely malafide action. I have full faith the courts will take a corrective stand in this,” the Chief Minister said.
Ratul Puri is being investigated by the three main central probe agencies, the Enforcement Directorate, the CBI and the Income Tax department.
A former executive of digital data storage company Moser Baer, Ratul Puri’s arrest is related to the alleged bank fraud case worth Rs. 354 crore.
He was arrested after he appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning linked to the AgustaWestland chopper deal; Puri is an accused in a money laundering case related to the chopper scam.
Puri, his father Deepak Puri, mother Nita (Kamal Nath’s sister) and others have been charged in the fraud case filed by the Central Bank of India.
Puri is separately being investigated in connection with the AgustaWestland case and was facing a no-bailable warrant after investigators told the court that the businessman may try to tamper with evidence and influence witnesses.
The Enforcement Directorate had told the court that it needed Puri in custody to question him.
The Delhi High Court had last week granted him protection from arrest till Tuesday.
