AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam: Delhi court extends judicial custody of Ratul Puri till 2 November

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday extended till 2 November the judicial custody of Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, in a money laundering case related to the alleged AgustaWestland chopper scam. [caption id=“attachment_7183401” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Ratul Puri. News18 Hindi[/caption] Special judge Arvind Kumar sent Puri to jail after the Enforcement Directorate moved an application seeking an extension of Puri’s judicial custody. The ED arrested Puri on 4 September. The money laundering case was lodged following alleged irregularities in the purchase of 12 VVIP choppers from Italy-based Finmeccanica’s British subsidiary, AgustaWestland. Puri was earlier arrested in another case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for alleged bank fraud after he appeared before the central probe agency here in the chopper scam after it had slapped a fresh criminal case against him and others, taking cognisance of a CBI FIR. The latest PMLA case emerged from a CBI FIR of 17 August, where Ratul Puri, his father Deepak Puri, mother Nita (Kamal Nath’s sister) and others were booked in connection with a Rs 354-crore bank fraud case filed by the Central Bank of India.