How Kolkata tycoon was stopped from fleeing to Malaysia by Mumbai ED

Enforcement Directorate sleuths allowed businessman Parasmal Lodha, picked up from Mumbai airport in connection with the recovery of Rs 148 crore in Delhi and Chennai, to clear security check and immigration before detaining him because they wanted undeniable proof of his plan to leave the country and thus build a watertight case to get his custody.

Lodha, who was remanded in seven-day custody by the Delhi Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) special court on Thursday, was in fact picked up on Tuesday night. He remained in Mumbai ED's custody for a day before a team from Delhi arrived, questioned him all over again and took him to Delhi on Thursday.

The ED began tracking Lodha, one of the biggest names in Kolkata's business circles with interests in hotels, construction, and financial consultancy, after the seizure of Rs 13.65 crore, including Rs 2.60 crore in new currency notes, from Delhi lawyer Rohit Tandon's office. Tandon's questioning led the investigators to sand mining tycoon J S Reddy in Chennai, from whose house Rs 135 crore of unaccounted cash, including Rs 10 crore in new currency, and 177 kg of gold bars were recovered.

ED found clues of Lodha's involvement in both Delhi and Chennai raids. While Reddy was arrested on Wednesday in Chennai, Lodha managed to slip out of Kolkata and went underground. ED got wind of his plan to leave the country and established contact with customs across all airports. Soon, they had in their possession passenger manifest logs and Lodha's name was found on one of them.

Lodha was booked on an 11.30 pm



Malaysian Airline flight to Malaysia for Tuesday from Mumbai. ED sleuths lay in wait for Lodha at the airport but did not react when he arrived from Kolkata at around 10.30 pm. He was allowed to check in his bags, and clear security and immigration. He was picked up near boarding gate seconds before boarding.

The team found Rs 2.7 lakh in new currency on Lodha. He, rather mysteriously, left a pouch at the immigration counter. There is no information available on the contents of the pouch yet because it has been deposited with the Lost and Found department.

The ED on Thursday told the PMLA special court that Lodha through Tandon in Delhi and Reddy in Chennai had managed to convert Rs 25 crore of old notes into new currency and gold.

According to sources, Lodha gained prominence after his aggressive takeover of Peerless General Finance and Investment Company Ltd in 1991, at that point one of India's largest nonbanking financial institutions.

A real estate developer, Lodha in Kolkata is known by some interesting aliases such as 'extra-floors Lodha' for adding extra floors to an existing property. Lodha is currently the director of seven firms and is registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

His daughter, Pallavi Lodha, got married to Rahul Jain, son of JK Jain, chairman and managing director of Fiem Group, an auto ancillary company with plants in India and abroad, in a high-profile wedding in 2014. .

Tandon too owns properties in London and UAE and has invested heavily in real estate in Delhi, including a Rs 100-crore bungalow in Jor Bagh.