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Satara police seize Wadhawans’ luxury vehicles used for Mahabaleshwar trip
The Wadhawans with a group of 23 people, including their family and friends, flouted the lockdown and travelled to Mahabaleshwar from Khandala on April 8.
The five luxury vehicles, in which DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan travelled to their farmhouse in Mahabaleshwar during the coronavirus lockdown, were seized on Sunday and brought to Panchgani police station by the Satara police on the instructions of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday issued orders to Satara police to seize the five cars, including two Range Rovers and three Toyota Fortuner cars, owned by Wadhawan brothers, under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The two brothers are named as accused in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR pertaining to swindling of money by Yes Bank former CEO Rana Kapoor and other accused. The duo is also being probed in the DHFL case.
The ED had issued a public order to the Satara police directing it to seize the vehicle belonging to Kapil Wadhawan and registered under RKW Construction Facility Management and another company Golden Beach Infracon Private Limited. The Range Rovers are registered in Jharkand while the Fortuners have the home state registration numbers. The order further states that the vehicles are proceeds of crime of money laundering.
“The Wadhawans have been quarantined at Xaviers High School hostel under the supervision of Bel Air Hospital. Their five cars have been seized as per the ED order,” said Tejaswini Satpute, Satara superintendent of police.
The Wadhawans, with a group of 23 people including their immediate family and friends, flouted the lockdown and travelled to Mahabaleshwar from Khandala on April 8. Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Friday said that the state government has initiated probe against principal secretary Amitabh Gupta’s role in allowing DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan to travel despite the ongoing lockdown.
