28 March,2024 06:53 AM IST | Mumbai | Vinod Kumar Menon
Amber Dalal
The Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai police on Wednesday arrested and produced absconding Ponzi scheme mastermind Amber Dalal in front of a special Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) court in Mumbai, seeking his custody till April 1.
Dalal, who was absconding since March 14, was nabbed from JRS hotel, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, by the Mumbai police team, using electronic surveillance and CCTV footage. The city police also sought assistance from the local Tapovan police chowkie, under the jurisdiction of Munikerati police station, Tehri Garhwal district.
Said a source in Munikerati police station: "We were given the copy of the FIR and were informed by Mumbai police that they are taking him for questioning and if he is found to be an accused, he will be arrested in Mumbai. All we know is that he is a suspect in a multi-crore scam."
Navneet Singh, senior superintendent of police, Tehri said, "At times, other state police directly approach the local police for assistance and they provide the required assistance. In this case, the local Munikerati police station might have been approached."
Ritesh Kumar, Station House Officer (SHO), Munikerati, said, "I instructed my policemen to take details of the FIR copy, and since they had apprehended the suspect for questioning, the details were recorded in our station diary."
A source at the JRS hotel in Tapovan told mid-day: "Amber Dalal was a walk-in customer, and came to the hotel on March 23. He was allotted deluxe air-conditioned room no 303, and this being the off-season, the tariff was R2,000 per day. But he drove a hard bargain, and secured a discount of R1,000 for a three-day stay. He wanted to watch cricket and live news, but since we don't have those channels, he settled for movies and cricket."
The Mumbai cops seem to have arrived just at the right time, because the hotel staff told mid-day that Amber was to have vacated the room on March 26 noon but then decided to extend his stay. He went out and when he came back, the Mumbai police were waiting for him.
A senior EOW officer told mid-day, "We have just got his custody. We have learnt that the scam is over Rs 380 crore with over 592 investors so far, but we expect more complainants to come forward. We will probe the case from angles and will also see if others are involved."
. Record the statements of investors and call for more complainants to come forward.
. How did Dalal use investor money?
. Did he also take funds from investors in the US and UAE?
. The bank account details of Dalal in India and abroad.
. Did he dab in share trading, forex, commodities and online to recover funds for investors?
. What are his moveable and immoveable assets?
