Chopper scam: Delhi court extends ED custody of Ratul Puri by 5 days

A Delhi court on Wednesday extended by five days the ED custody of Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in a money laundering case related to AgustaWestland chopper scam.

Special judge Arvind Kumar allowed the Enforcement Directorate to quiz Puri till September 16 after the agency said that fresh evidence was recovered during the ongoing probe and his further custodial interrogation was required in the ongoing probe.

In its plea seeking eight more days of Puri's custody, ED told the court that during interrogation, he was non-cooperative and evasive and was required to be confronted with the incriminating e-mails and documents which were allegedly recovered from the house of one of the suspects recently in the case.

ED's plea was opposed by Puri's counsel Vijay Agarwal, who alleged that the agency was playing to the gallery.

"Further probe will go on for years. They already knew about the office for years. Why do they need more custody," he asked.

Puri was arrested by ED on September 4 and his custody was ending today.

The money laundering case was lodged following alleged irregularities in purchase of 12 VVIP choppers from Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary, AgustaWestland.