Civil contractor arrested from Vadodara in New India Cooperative Bank case

The police revealed that Rs 122 crore was embezzled from the safes of the bank`s Prabhadevi and Goregaon offices in Mumbai. File pic

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has arrested a suspect from Vadodara in connection with the Rs 122-crore embezzlement at New India Cooperative Bank, an officer informed on Saturday.

According to news agency PTI, civil contractor Kapil Dedhia was apprehended in the Gujarat city on Friday and brought to Mumbai on Saturday. A local court in Mumbai remanded him in police custody until March 19, the officer said.

The police have claimed that Rs 12 crore of the misappropriated amount was credited to Dedhia's account. He allegedly received a portion of the money from real estate developer Dharmesh Paun, who is also an accused in the New India Cooperative Bank case, reported PTI.

Dedhia is also said to have received funds from Unnathan Arunachalam, another wanted accused, and prime accused Hitesh Mehta, the bank's former general manager and head of accounts.

Further investigation is ongoing to trace the complete flow of funds and identify other individuals involved in the fraud, the officer added.

The police revealed that Rs 122 crore was embezzled from the safes of the bank's Prabhadevi and Goregaon offices in Mumbai.

Apart from Dedhia, EOW has arrested five people so far, with several others named as wanted accused. They include the bank's former chairman Hiren Bhanu and his wife, ex-vice-chairperson Gauri Bhanu, who fled abroad just before the scam came to light, PTI reported.

New India Cooperative Bank case: EOW conducts polygraph test on Hitesh Mehta

On Tuesday, Mumbai Police had conducted a polygraph test on New India Cooperative Bank Limited's former general manager and head of accounts, Hitesh Mehta.

"The polygraph test, also called a lie detector test, was conducted on Hitesh Mehta at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Mumbai's Kalina on Tuesday afternoon," said an officer.

In the past few years, Mehta is the first accused on whom the Mumbai EOW has conducted a polygraph test, the officer added.

"The test lasted three hours, and around 50 questions were asked to him," he further informed.

The officers had prepared a questionnaire, and forensic physiology experts asked the questions to him, PTI reported.

"The test reports are expected to come out before Monday [March 17], and will be presented to the court," the officer said.

(With PTI inputs)