Mumbai, Aug 13 (IANS): Makarand S. Kulkarni, the brother of Pune-based realtor Deepak S. Kulkarni, both of them accused in a Rs 2,000-crore investors scam, was detained at the airport here on Tuesday and not allowed to leave the country.
Makarand is one of the directors in the D.S. Kulkarni Developers along with other family members, and was stopped from travelling to the US.
This is the second time within four days that a prominent personality has been restricted from travelling aboard. On August 9, veteran journalist Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika were similarly stopped and detained at the airport.
Tuesday's action was initiated following the Pune Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW)'s 'look-out circular' issued in Makarand's name recently.
He has been allegedly absconding after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a Pune court and was likely to be taken to his hometown and placed under arrest, official sources said.
Following complaints lodged by an investor in 2017, the Pune Police filed an FIR against Deepak S. Kulkarni, his wife Hemanti, besides 13 others including family members and outsiders.
While 10 accused have been arrested so far, a few others, including Makarand, were evading arrest, and Deepak S. Kulkarni and Hemanti are currently in custody.
However, earlier this year, the prime accused Deepak S. Kulkarni had denied all charges levelled against him and his family members.
It may be recalled that in Feb. 2019, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had attached the DSK Group's assets worth Rs 904 crore and also booked its top officials under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002.
"Investigation disclosed the trio and others conspired themselves and formed eight partnership firms - DS Kulkarni and Company; DS Kulkarni and Associates; DS Kulkarni and Brothers; DS Kulkarni and Sons; DSK and Sons; DSK and Association; DSK Construction; DSK Enterprises - under the veil of DSKDL with the sole motive of collecting funds from people in Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, and other cities," the ED had said then.