MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd’s (HDIL) chairman and managing director Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang Wadhawan, who were arrested in connection with Rs 4,355 crore Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank scam last week, was extended till October 24 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a 73-year-old woman passed away due to a cardiac arrest in Solapur after speaking to her Mumbai-based daughter, who has an account with the PMC Bank. This is the fifth death in connection to multi-crore scam over the past week.
The ED produced the Wadhawans before special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court judge P Rajvaidya, after their remand ended on Tuesday. The agency sought further custody of the duo as they played a crucial role in laundering huge amount of money and were concealing material from investigation. The money trail of proceeds received from the bank and properties derived from the same were yet to be ascertained, the ED said.
The court then extended the ED custody of the duo till Thursday.
Meanwhile, in a tragic turn of events Bharati Sadarangani (73) from Solapur died of cardiac arrest on Sunday afternoon after speaking to her daughter, who had around Rs 2.25 crore in the PMC bank.
“My wife and I had accounts at the PMC Bank. All of our life savings are in the bank. My wife Hema had been sharing her worries with her mother, who called to check on us daily,” Chandan Chotrani, son-in-law of Ms Sadarangani has said.
According to him, Sadarangani had no history of heart-related diseases.
“She was healthy and there was no indication that something like this could happen. My wife is in deep shock,” he added.
Earlier, 80-year-old Muralidhar Darra died after his family couldn’t arrange funds for his bypass surgery. His 43-year-old son Prem Darra said that they had Rs 80 lakh in various accounts at the bank. Before him, last Monday, a depositor Sanjay Gulati (51) suffered a cardiac arrest and died at his home in Oshiwara, as all his money was were blocked in the PMC Bank and he could not withdraw cash for his physically challenged son’s treatment.
A day later on Tuesday, another depositor, Fattomal Punjabi (59), died of a cardiac arrest as his life’s savings were stuck in the bank. On Wednesday, a lady doctor named Nivedita Bijlani (39) allegedly ended her life by consuming an overdose of sleeping pills and the PMC Bank crisis was blamed for triggering the circumstances that drove her to suicide.