Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has once again taken Hitesh Mehta and Dharmesh Paun into police custody in connection with the ₹122 crore scam at New India Cooperative Bank. Both accused were previously in judicial custody, but EOW secured court permission on Thursday to detain them again for further interrogation.
EOW is set to conduct a face-to-face interrogation of Mehta and Paun alongside other accused currently in police custody, including Ulhanath Arunachalam, Kapil Dedhia, and Javed Azam. Investigators aim to determine how the ₹122 crore was distributed among the accused and where the embezzled money was utilized.
During previous questioning, the accused gave conflicting and evasive responses, making it necessary for EOW to confront them together to extract clear details about the financial misappropriation.
On Wednesday, EOW had filed a petition in court requesting Mehta and Paun’s re-custody, citing the need for further investigation. The court granted approval on Thursday, leading to their transfer from judicial custody to police custody for continued interrogation.
EOW is aggressively pursuing leads to trace the missing funds and identify any further beneficiaries of the scam. The agency is expected to conduct financial audits and analyze bank transactions linked to the accused.
