Vihari Poddar, the managing director of Singapore-based Vihari Jewels, has been denied bail after being held in Mumbai airport for attempting to smuggling diamonds worth ₹2.45 crore in her innerwear.
The 26-year-old was directed by Magistrate DB Desphande to custody till 14 August in the Byculla jail citing the serious nature of crime.
Vihari's counsel Mahesh Kotian argued against the arrest calling it a non-cognisable offence. However, Arun Gupte for Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) put down the argument citing the arrest as cognisable under Customs Act.
The DRI's application regarding the custody of Poddar will be heard in the court on Monday.
Post the Poddar's interception, the DRI shut down the three shops run by the Poddar family. Jiten Seth, Poddar's uncle further confessed to previous counts of smuggling carried out by Poddar. A raid at the shops led to the seizure of ₹4 crore worth of uncleared jewellery.
A DRI official was quoted by Times of India as saying, "Jiten, her husband Abhishek Poddar and two others have not responded to our summons. They are not traceable at their homes. We pasted summons again at their residences on Saturday. Their mobiles are also not reachable."
Meanwhile, another drama unfolded when Vihari collapsed in court and her counsel demanded she be taken to a private hospital.
The court directed the accused to JJ Hospital where 16 tests were conducted which confirmed that she was fine and in no need of medical assistance or let alone hospital admission.
A DRI official informed, "The hospital authorities, in fact, refused to admit her saying she was perfectly normal."
"Before taking her to court, we had done some medical tests on her and they showed no complications. Hence, we were surprised to see her collapse in court. As per the court's directions, we took her to JJ hospital and got 16 medical tests done on her, including CT scans and certain psychiatric tests. All reports were normal," reported Daily News Analysis (DNA).
Vihari's husband Abhishek Poddar is the director of Siyaram Silk Mills.
