Rush to prevent flight of Rotomac family

Lucknow: The CBI on Tuesday took Rotomac promoter Vikram Kothari, his wife Sadhana and son Rahul away from their Kanpur residence in connection with a Rs 3,695-crore bank swindling complaint. Later in the evening, the Enforcement Directorate notified all land, sea and air ports to prevent the possible exit of Kothari and two family members from the country, officials said. The step comes at a time the Union government and law enforcement agencies are under attack for failing to prevent the departure of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, who have been accused of defrauding Punjab National Bank of Rs 11,400 crore. A joint team of the CBI and the income tax department reached Vikram's residence in Kanpur's Tilak Nagar colony around 9am and escorted his wife and son to an undisclosed destination for interrogation. In the afternoon, they were seen with the CBI sleuths at the Mall Road branch of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Some sources suggested Vikram and his family had been taken to Delhi. But CBI sources in the national capital denied the claim. The income-tax department on Tuesday attached 14 accounts of Vikram and his family members in connection with a tax evasion case involving Rs 80 crore. Four CBI teams had searched Vikram's house, office and factories in the city on Monday during a 15-hour of operation. Sources in the investigating agency said R.R. Rathi, CBI's deputy superintendent of police, stayed with Vikram in the residence when his wife and son were taken away for interrogation. Rathi recorded Vikram's statements in the presence of a magistrate. "Two banks appear to have been most reckless, giving loans to Vikram without analysing his antecedents. Later, they rushed to register a complaint against the businessman. We may register cases against some of the senior officers of the banks soon", said an officer of the CBI. It is believed that several banks gave loans to Vikram against properties worth only around Rs 10 crore. "He used to take loans in the name of importing raw materials for his products and export of the finished items. But neither import nor export was done. The entire loan money was diverted to several local ventures of Vikram," a source said. Mansukhbhai Kothari, the father of Vikram, used to sell coconut oil, biscuits and cigarettes on the footpaths of Kanpur. He ventured into pan masala manufacture in 1975. His sons Deepak Kothari and Vikram Kothari would help him in the manually operated factory. Vikram started manufacturing Rotomac pens in 1990s. Deepak sold branded mineral water. Vikram eventually launched a real estate company and a software firm.