The 62-year-old, who worked as an electrical contractor, had met the key accused, ex-General Manager Hitesh Mehta, before becoming involved in the fraud. Authorities allege that Mehta misappropriated Rs 40 crore and handed it over to Ullahanathan
The 62-year-old accused, Arunachalam Ullahanathan, has been sent to police custody till Tuesday. Representational pic
Arunachalam Ullahanathan, a wanted accused in the New India Cooperative Bank scam, surrendered to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) officials after evading arrest for over a month. According to EOW officials, Ullahanathan was taken into custody after surrendering in Mumbai and was subsequently produced before the Esplanade court.
The 62-year-old, who worked as an electrical contractor, had met the key accused former General Manager Hitesh Mehta before becoming involved in the New India Cooperative Bank fraud. Authorities allege that Mehta misappropriated Rs 40 crore and handed it over to Ullahanathan. “The main accused, Hitesh Mehta, confessed that he had given Rs 40 crore to Arunachalam,” a police officer said.
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(Left) Hitesh Mehta, former GM of the New India Co-operative Bank produced in the Esplanade court. FILE PIC/ASHISH RAJE
Following this, Ullahanathan allegedly transferred Rs 15 crore to his son, Manohar. “The father handed over the money to his son. We arrested him, but he couldn’t provide any information about his son’s whereabouts. After a thorough investigation, the court granted him judicial custody,” police added.
Investigators revealed that Ullahanathan initially came into contact with Mehta while working on an electrical project at the bank’s Prabhadevi branch. “He worked as a contractor and had approached Mehta for payment regarding an electrical job. It was then that Mehta informed him about the misappropriated funds and handed over the cash. We suspect they first met in 2013,” the police officer said.
On February 16, Ullahanathan went absconding, prompting EOW officials to issue a lookout circular (LOC). Authorities suspected he had fled abroad and even announced a reward for information leading to his arrest.
However, on Sunday, he surrendered near Crawford Market, after which officials took him into custody.
This marks the sixth arrest in the Rs 40 crore embezzlement case. On Friday, police arrested Kapil Dedhia, who allegedly received Rs 12 crore from the misappropriated funds. “A portion of the money was given to Dedhia by Arunachalam,” police disclosed. Ullahanathan has been remanded to police custody until March 18.
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