Wanted Arunachalam Ullahanathan Maruthuvar alias ‘Arun Bhai’, arrested in New India Co-operative Bank scam case

Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Mumbai, has arrested Arunachalam Ullahanathan Maruthuvar, a wanted accused in the New India Co-operative Bank (NICB) misappropriation case. Arunachalam, who had been absconding for the past one month, surrendered at the EOW office in Mumbai on Sunday morning, EOW informed. Arunachalam Ullahanathan Maruthuvar, also known as Arun Bhai, is accused of receiving a significant portion of the embezzled funds.

EOW stated that it is alleged that Arunachalam Ullahanathan Maruthuvar received approximately ₹30 crores from the misappropriated funds of NICB from the main accused Hitesh Mehta.

EOW had deployed multiple teams across various parts of India to trace Arunachalam during his period of absconding. Following his surrender, Arunachalam Ullahanathan Maruthuvar was placed under arrest and produced before the court.

The court has granted police custody till 18 March for further investigation.

Other Arrests in New India Co-operative Bank (NICB) Case

On March 15, EOW of the Mumbai police arrested civil contractor Kapil Dedhia from Vadodara in the ₹122-crore embezzlement at New India Cooperative Bank.

Kapil Dedhia was apprehended in the Gujarat city on Friday and brought to Mumbai on Saturday. A local court here remanded him in police custody till March 19.

According to the police, ₹12 crore of the misappropriated amount was credited to Dedhia’s account. He received a part of the money from real estate developer Dharmesh Paun, also an accused.

Earlier, the EOW had also arrested Manohar Arunachalam, the son of Unnathan Arunachalam, for allegedly aiding his father's escape and being involved in the fraudulent transactions.

Manohar, who operates a consultancy firm in Malad, was arrested from the northern suburb of Dahisar and remanded in police custody. Arrested accused Manohar Arunachalam gave money from his consultancy firm's bank account to Mehta, as per the EOW's probe.

The EOW has arrested the main accused, Hitesh Mehta, the bank's general manager and head of accounts, the bank's former CEO Abhimanyu Bhoan and real estate developer Dharmesh Paun.

Including Dedhia, EOW has arrested five persons so far and many more have been named as wanted accused, including 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.

What is the New India Co-operative Bank (NICB) Case?

The New India Co-operative Bank case involves the embezzlement of ₹122 crore from the bank's treasury. According to the police, ₹122 crore was embezzled from the safes of the bank’s Prabhadevi and Goregaon offices in Mumbai.

The RBI subsequently barred the bank from issuing new loans and suspended deposit withdrawals, superseding its board and appointing an administrator.

The embezzlement came to light after the Reserve Bank of India inspected the lender's cash safes, following which a case was registered at Dadar police station. The probe was then transferred to the EOW.