With the Bombay high court having withdrawn interim protection of prominent Pune real estate developer DS Kulkarni and his wife Hemanti, the city police have dispatched teams to arrest the couple. Pune police personnel who were present at the DSK residence on Friday said the couple was untraceable since 3 am.
A senior official from the economic offences wing confirmed that two teams have been sent to complete the arrest.
“We have dispatched these teams to various locations to arrest the DSK couple. We are confident of tracking them soon,” said deputy commissioner of police (crime) Pankaj Dahane.
While DSK did not respond to repeated calls by Hindustan Times, his son Shirish, managing director of DSKDL, texted: “We will see if we can take a chance in the Supreme Court.” He said he was not aware of his father’s whereabouts.
Chairman of DS Kulkarni Developers Ltd (DSKDL), the builder, known as ‘DSK’, is accused of duping 2,774 investors who have been seeking a refund of fixed deposits and other investment instruments in the DSK group of companies. According to investigating agencies, Rs 485 crore is the amount locked in FDs and debentures alone.
DS Kulkarni and Hemanti Kulkarni were booked on charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust in November, after an FIR was lodged against them at the Shivajinagar police station on October 28, 2017. The case was later transferred to the EOW, after which, scores of duped investors lodged individual complaints, which were then compiled by the EOW.
{{/usCountry}}DS Kulkarni and Hemanti Kulkarni were booked on charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust in November, after an FIR was lodged against them at the Shivajinagar police station on October 28, 2017. The case was later transferred to the EOW, after which, scores of duped investors lodged individual complaints, which were then compiled by the EOW.
{{/usCountry}}The Kulkarnis have been booked under sections 420, 406 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC); and sections 3 and 4 of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act, for cheating fixed deposit (FD) holders to the tune of Rs 230 crore.
DSK’s lawyers told the high court that the builder and his wife had already surrendered his passport to investigating agencies.
As news of the high court withdrawing protection came in, investors hoping to get their money reached the DSK office on JM road, only to find it locked.
“I have come here hoping for updates on DSK after the high court cancelled his bail. However, there is no one here to give us any information,” said Vivek Kulkarni, a retired bank employee, who had deposited Rs 12 lakh as a fixed deposit in the DSK scheme.