Cheating case: Pune builder's brother sent in police remand

Builder D S Kulkarni's brother Makrand Kulkarni, who was arrested in connection with a Rs 2,000 crore cheating case, was on Wednesday produced before a Pune court which remanded him in police custody till August 17.

Makrand Kulkarni, 66, was detained at the Mumbai airport on Tuesday when he was about to fly abroad.

A look out circular was earlier issued against him by the Pune Police, since he was on the run after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a court.

"After taking his custody on Tuesday, we arrested him and today. He was produced before additional sessions judge A S Bhaisare who remanded him in police custody till Saturday," a police official said.

The Pune Police in May last year filed a charge sheet against the city-based builder D S Kulkarni, also known as DSK, his wife and others for allegedly cheating nearly 33,000 depositors and investors of nearly Rs 2,043.18 crore.

Makrand Kulkarni is also an accused in the case.

According to a complaint filed in 2017 by one of the depositors, Jitendra Mulekar, investors put in lakhs of rupees in a deposit scheme of DSK Developers, but they neither received the interest nor the principal amount for months.

The EOW earlier booked the Kulkarnis under various provisions of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act, and Indian Penal Code Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 34 (common intention).

Around 15 people have been named as accused in the case and 10 of them have so far been arrested, including DSK and his wife who are currently lodged at Yerawada jail in Pune.