New Delhi, February 20: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday detained Rotomac Pens owner Vikram Kothari in connection with the Rs 800-crore loan default case. Kothari was arrested from Kanpur, where the CBI carried out raids this morning.  According to a report by news agency PTI, Kothari had taken a loan of more than Rs 800 crore from five state-owned banks.

As per earlier reports, the Kanpur-based company’s owner had taken a loan of more than Rs 800 crore from five state-owned banks including Allahabad Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank and Union Bank of India. Reports further stated that Kothari had taken a loan of Rs 485 crore from Mumbai-based Union Bank of India and a loan of Rs 352 crore from Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank, the PTI report said, adding that Kothari had reportedly not paid back either the interest or the loan a full year after being lent the money.

The Rotomac owner’s detention comes hours after reports of him having fled the country. Kothari, however, denied those reports, saying, "I am a resident of Kanpur and I will stay in the city." Earlier this morning, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said that there were no arrests in connection with the case as yet. Earlier, Bank of Baroda had registered a complaint with CBI against Vikram Kothari.

In 2017, Bank of Baroda (BoB), a consortium partner declared pen manufacturer Rotomac Global Pvt Ltd as "wilful defaulter". Kothari’s company Rotomac was declared a “wilful defaulter” in an order dated February 27, 2017 according to the procedure laid down by India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India.

As per a PTI report, a division bench involving Chief Justice D B Bhosle and Justice Yashwant Verma had passed the order on a petition filed by the company Rotomac Global, which said that it has been wrongly declared a “wilful defaulter” by Bank of Baroda despite having “offered assets worth more than Rs 300 crore to the bank since the date of default”.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 20, 2018 05:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).